


Learn From The Past, Live For The Future

by cazmalfoy



Series: Assassin Ianto [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Assassin Ianto, Bad ass Ianto, Fifty-First Century Ianto, M/M, Past Child Death, Temporary Character Death, Temporary Character Death - Jack Harkness, Time Agent Ianto, Time Travel, Torture, past original character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2013-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-28 12:37:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 23,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Torchwood try to rebuild after the tragedy of Exit Wounds, unaware of the dangers lurking on the horizon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jack glanced down at his son who was making funny gurgling noises from his play mat. Ianto was out getting some food for them, leaving the older Time Agent alone with Dominic.

In the two months that had passed since Tosh and Owen's deaths, he had gotten so big. He had quickly outgrown his Moses basket and had been moved into his own bedroom. Many times Jack had woken in the middle of the night and crept into his room, just to watch him sleep.

Ianto had only just started complaining about sleeping with the window open all night long and Jack had to admit that his annoyance was more than justifiable. Not only was it noisy on the street outside their apartment, but the nights were starting to get colder and if they kept the window open all the time, they risked Dominic getting sick.

His son's health was the most important thing to Jack so he had agreed to sleeping with the window closed. Although there were still times when he had to get up in the middle of the night to rid himself of the claustrophobic feeling that suffocated him.

The wind chime above the door jingled as Ianto entered the apartment, grumpily dropping the few bags of shopping he was carrying. "I swear," he muttered, kicking the door closed behind him and falling against it with a sigh of relief. "I hate shopping," he added, closing his eyes; he was just glad to be home.

Jack chuckled and got to his feet, leaving Dominic happily babbling with himself. "Hey," he greeted, stepping over the shopping bags, noting that a tin of peas had rolled across the hallway into their bedroom.

Ianto's eyes opened and he smiled when he spotted his lover standing close to him. "Hi," he replied, reaching out and pulling Jack closer.

Their lips met in a slow kiss and Jack ran his tongue over his lips before slipping it inside Ianto's mouth. Ianto groaned and slid his hands down Jack's back, cupping his arse and dragging him closer.

They were interrupted by Dominic, who decided he was fed up of being ignored by his parents and decided to make sure they still remembered he was there.

Jack pressed his forehead against Ianto's and chuckled wryly. "I think Mister Harkness-Jones doesn't like me stealing his tad's attention," he commented.

Ianto rolled his eyes and swatted Jack's back lightly, pushing the other man back a step. "It's me stealing your attention I think," he responded with a quirk of the eyebrow. "He's such a daddy's boy."

Jack laughed and shrugged his shoulders, not responding; it was true after all. "You go say hello and I'll put this stuff away," he nodded toward the shopping on the floor.

They parted with another kiss and Ianto headed over to his crying son. "Shh…" Ianto cooed, picking him up and bouncing him gently. "What's all this fuss about?"

He placed the dummy against Dominic's lips, urging him to take it. After a few rejected attempts, he finally managed to get the crying reduced and the dummy lodged in his mouth.

"See?" Ianto whispered, sitting down on the couch. He put his feet on the edge of the coffee table, resting Dominic against his raised thighs as he spoke to him. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked, tracing little circles on Dominic's stomach with his index finger.

Jack grinned as he joined the both of them. Ianto had never been particularly good with children before, but seeing him interact with Dominic since he had been born made Jack realise that the twenty first century had changed Ianto more than either of them had realised.

Dominic beamed when he saw Jack cuddle up next to Ianto on the couch. "I think he's glad to see both of us," Jack commented, resting his head on Ianto's shoulder as they watched Dominic kick his legs back and forth happily.

Ianto smiled and turned his head, kissing his lover softly before their attention returned back to the grinning Dominic.

x

Martha watched as Jack screwed the piece of paper up and threw it in the general direction of the waste paper basket. "You only missed by a foot this time," she commented dryly, leaning on the doorway to his office.

The look of venom Jack shot her, made her frown and enter the room fully. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern, closing the door behind her to give them privacy.

Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair, falling back in his chair with a groan. "It's just… We need Ianto back on the team, but we can't leave Dominic on his own," he tried to explain.

"So you need a babysitter?" Martha clarified.

Jack nodded his head. "But all the ones we've looked at so far, aren't even close to being trustworthy enough to know about Torchwood. Why didn't we think about this a year ago?" he muttered, resting his head against the cold wood of his desk.

The door opened and Ianto entered with a questioning look on his face. Martha got up and whispered something Jack couldn't hear in his lover's ear, before leaving the couple alone.

"What did she say?" Jack demanded immediately after Martha had left.

Ianto smirked and crossed the room, straddling Jack's lap and kissing him deeply. "Just that I should distract you before you shoot someone," he replied, sliding his hands under Jack's shirt.

x

Hours later, Jack stirred in his sleep and tried to get up from the bed, only to find that he couldn't move. He opened his eyes and grinned when he saw that Ianto was sprawled out on top of him, fast asleep and completely oblivious to anything around him.

Jack smiled and ran his fingers through his hair, pressing his lips against Ianto's forehead. He didn't know where their son was but knew he was more than likely with Martha or Gwen, so he wasn't too worried about his wellbeing at that exact moment.

Ianto needed the rest more than any of them. He had been so busy running around taking care of everyone it took Jack wearing him out completely for him to rest sometimes.

Jack mobile phone ringing from his bedside table made him jump and Ianto groaned sleepily, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "Tell whoever it is to fuck off," he muttered, pressing his face further into Jack's chest.

The older man chuckled and reached out for his phone. "This had better be important," he warned whoever was on the other end by way of a greeting.

"Jack?" a very familiar female voice asked.

Jack sat upright in surprise, pushing an indignant Ianto off of him.

"Tish?"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"No," Martha replied defiantly, looking up on the screen that was projected against Jack's office wall. "I'm not coming back."

The image of her boss glared back at her. "This is not open for discussion, Doctor Jones. I trust I don't need to remind you that you are under the employment of UNIT, not Torchwood."

"Then I'm formally requesting a transfer to Torchwood, sir," Martha replied, folding her arms across her chest and looking into his eyes as best as she could considering he was miles away.

"Requested denied," he snapped. "You will report to London within 72 hours or UNIT will declare you AWOL. And you've seen how we deal with AWOL employees."

He reached forward and pressed a button on his system, severing the connection and replacing his image with that of UNIT's logo. Martha swore loudly and shoved her middle finger in the direction of the previously active web cam; she knew it was immature, but it made her feel better.

"I can kill him if you want," Ianto's voice suggested from the doorway. "Wouldn't mind it, actually. I haven't shot anyone for a while."

Martha chuckled and rested her head against her friend's shoulder. "He's a bastard," she muttered, her eyes flicking back up to the screen.

Ianto grinned and hugged her tightly. "Most bosses are."

She lifted her head, staring at him in mock-horror. "Don't let Jack hear you say that," she advised him.

He rolled his eyes, "He already knows he's a bastard. I'm pretty sure he takes it as a compliment." Martha smiled back at him, feeling some of her annoyance ebb away. "You don't have to stay with UNIT, you know?"

"I thought he just said I did," Martha scoffed.

Ianto shook his head, "I meant, permanently. There'll always be a place here for you."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Are you offering me a job? I know you're second in command, but shouldn't you check with…"

Ianto punched her lightly in the arm, "You know what I mean," he muttered. "Jack's family died a long time ago – or they haven't been born yet, depending on how you work it out," he frowned before shaking his head and getting back on track.

"Anyway, the point is, you and the Doctor are practically family to him. You'll always be welcome wherever he is. With me as well," he added, grinning down at the young doctor.

Martha offered him a watery smile as she hugged him back. "Thank you, Ianto," she whispered, squeezing him once more before realising him. "If only I could get Jack to admit…"

The alarm sounding interrupted them and they exchanged concerned glances before jumping to their feet.

"I swear," they heard Jack complain from outside in the main Hub, "this place is being overrun by Jones'!"

Ianto and Martha laughed as they saw who was walking through the cog door. "So this is Torchwood," the newcomer commented, looking at her surroundings. "It's a bit bleak, isn't it?"

x

When Gwen arrived at work, feeling a little hung over from the night before, the last thing she expected was to see a new employee sitting at her workstation, holding Dominic and making those baby noises everyone seemed insistent in making every time they were near him.

"Hey," she greeted cautiously, stepping up to the work area and looking at Jack and Ianto in confusion. "Did I miss something?" she asked, nodding in the direction of the stranger.

Jack blinked in surprise before he realised Gwen didn't know the person holding his son. "Oh, this is Tish Jones," he indicated to the young woman. "Tish, this is Gwen Cooper. Tish is Martha's baby sister," Jack grinned down at her.

"Oi," Tish reprimanded, "less of the baby."

"Dominic'll be babysitting her for us," Jack continued, winking at Tish.

Martha's sister scowled and threw Dominic's rattle at Jack, making the small boy giggle in amusement – although it was possible he was giggling at Myfanwy who was shaking her head at their antics.

Gwen chuckled and threw her coat on the back of Tosh's – a nearby – chair. "Watch out Jack, you've got three Jones' after you now."

Martha chuckled and shook her head, "Not this Jones," she said regretfully, fastening her own jacket. "I've been called back to UNIT," she added, hugging Gwen tightly, whispering something in her ear that none of them could here.

"Take care of my boys for me," she told both Gwen and Tish, pressing a soft kiss on Dominic's head. His hair was growing so fast, he was going to have hair longer than Jack's soon if they weren't careful.

She hugged Ianto tightly, the Time Agent whispering a reminder about the job offer in her ear before he released her.

Jack offered her a watery smile before saluting her. "Ma'am," he winked before dropping the pretence and hugging her tightly, pressing a friendly kiss against her lips. "Thank you," he whispered, meeting her dark eyes with his own blue. "For everything."

Martha grinned back and glanced around the small family once more before picking her bag up and heading over to the lift which would take her back to the Plass where she'd catch a taxi back to the train station.

She really wished she could take Ianto and Jack up on their job offer, there was nothing she wanted more than to stay in Cardiff with the people who had become as much of a family to her as her own.

Now she had to head to London where she would be given her briefing before being transferred to Manhattan to begin work on project Indigo.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gwen had just taken a bite of her pizza when Jack made a particularly lewd comment and she promptly choked as she tried to smother her laughter. "Oh you didn't," she grimaced.

Jack nodded his head, beaming from ear to ear as he took a drink of his water. "How was I supposed to know she was married with six husbands and a wife?" he asked with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Ianto snorted with laughter, "She was the High Priestess of the Secman Clan," he pointed out, waggling his finger in his lover's direction. "You knew full well how many spouses she had."

Tish giggled and rolled her eyes at Jack. "You're such an attention seeker. You wanted all those guards to hunt you down."

They were gathered in the Hub one evening, eating pizza, drinking and generally having a laugh with other. The Rift was playing nice for a change and they had every intention in taking advantage of it while they could.

Dominic was asleep in his room just off the main Hub and could be heard via baby monitor if one of them was needed.

Jack had the decency to blush as he slid down in his seat, trying to hide behind his slice of pizza. "What? A bunch of men wearing very little, shoving big sticks in my face? What's not to love?"

Together they laughed and Gwen poked him in the thigh with her fork, getting a little bit of coleslaw on his trousers. "You never change," she informed him.

Jack frowned at the mess she had made. "Look what you did," he muttered, grabbing a napkin and cleaning himself off. "My maid'll kill me for getting dirty," he winked at Ianto.

The younger Time Agent huffed indignantly and threw a piece of pepperoni at Jack, laughing when it hit him in the forehead before sliding down to the ground, leaving a trial of tomato sauce and cheese in its wake. "I'm no-one's maid, Harkness."

Gwen let out a startled yelp when Jack jumped to his feet and clambered over her to reach Ianto, pinning him to the chair before he could move. "Get off me!" Ianto cried, trying to push Jack's off his lap.

The older man grinned and shook his head, leaning close and pressing his face against Ianto's cheek, smearing the residual sauce across his lover's face before licking his nose.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Tish complained, jokingly turning away with a look of disgust on her face; she actually thought they were rather cute together.

Jack lifted his head and flashed her a smile, which combined with the juice, made him look terrifying. "Aww, sorry, Tish," he pouted, getting off of Ianto and heading toward the young girl. "I didn't realise you wanted some too."

Tish shrieked with laughter and ran away from Jack, ducking around Ianto's desk and darting into the Captain's office.

"Don't you realise you're heading into my natural habitat?" Jack called, following her slowly, pretending to be a lion hunting its prey.

"I swear," Ianto muttered, taking a drink of his beer. "He's spending too much time playing with Dominic."

Gwen chuckled and stood up, heading over to her computer, pressing a few buttons and pulling up past images of Jack looking after Dominic. "Come here," she instructed, beckoning him over.

Together they watched as Jack played hide and seek with Dominic, who giggled every time his daddy popped back up from behind the blanket he was hiding behind.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that at ease," Ianto commented. "He looks…"

The words died on his lips when the ground below them shook violently.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As soon as the shaking stopped Jack groaned and pushed the filing cabinet off of him. Why did things always feel the need to fall on top of him? Still, he mused, at least it hadn't killed him.

"Tish?" Jack ran over to the young woman who was sprawled across Jack's desk, having landed there during the apparent Rift spike. "I could make so many comments about this, right now," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and assured him she was fine, pushing him away and telling him to check on the others.

"Ianto? Gwen?" he called, jogging out into the Hub and laughing when he saw his lover and friend lying on the floor. "Are you okay?"

Ianto rubbed the back of his head, wincing a little at the pain he felt in the back of his head; he must have hit it on the desk on the way down. "No broken bones. Slight loss of dignity, nothing new there, then," he commented dryly.

Crying sounded through the baby monitor and all of them realised that no one was with Dominic.

"Nicky!" Jack breathed, running across the Hub with Ianto hot on his heels.

Thankfully nothing in the nursery seemed too bad, the worse that had happened was a few toys had fallen off of shelves and one teddy had landed in Dominic's cot with him.

"Hey," Jack whispered, lowering the side and carefully picking Dominic up. "It's okay. Daddy's gotcha," he added, pressing his lips against the crying child's head and holding him close as the tears subsided.

"That had to have been one hell of a Rift spike," Ianto commented, running a hand up and down Dominic's back, glad he was okay and not hurt after the tremor. "The whole of South Wales must have felt that."

"Guys," Gwen called from the Hub. "I think this is bigger than South Wales."

The couple exchanged confused glances before walking back over to her, Dominic still cradled in Jack's arms. "What do you mean?"

Gwen pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and the CCTV camera above them on the Plass, moved around so it was displaying the previously bright, clear and blue sky.

Now it was dark and full of planets none of them had ever seen before.

"What the Hell?" Ianto muttered, speaking the words that were on everyone's lips.

x

Martha gasped and stumbled away from the window. There was something seriously wrong. Planets didn't just randomly appear out of nowhere. She quickly pulled out her phone and pressed speed dial one, calling the Doctor.

She frowned and looked at her phone when she realised the call wasn't going through. Apparently the person she was calling was out range. Which was impossible.

"Doctor Jones, when you're finished making personal phone calls, we have an emergency here," her boss scowled at her.

"I'm trying to call the Doctor, sir," she responded, with just the tiniest bit of insubordination.

"And?"

"There's no signal," she replied, more thinking aloud than talking to him. "And this number calls anywhere in the galaxy."

She disconnected and pressed speed dial two, calling the only other person she knew who might be able to contact the Doctor.

"Miss Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale…"

x

"Tell me you put something in my drink," Jack practically begged.

Tish was sitting at Ianto's desk, feeding a fussy Dominic while his parents and Gwen set about trying to figure out what was wrong.

"No such luck," Martha replied. "Have you heard from the Doctor?"

"No," Jack replied. "Nothing. Where are you?"

"New York."

"Oh, nice for some," Jack commented dryly.

He heard movement on the other end of the line and could hear people in the background panicking about their current situation. "I've been promoted. Chief medical officer for project Indigo."

Jack's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you get that thing working?"

"How do you know about Indigo? It's top secret."

The Captain shifted uncomfortably and had the decency to look abashed. "I met a solider in a bar," he admitted.

Ianto immediately began paying more attention and he glared at his lover. "When was that?" he demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Strictly professional," Jack assured him, receiving a light punch in the gut from the younger Time Agent.

"They're almost here, boys," Gwen interrupted, glancing at the monitor nervously. None of them knew what race was in the space craft heading for them.

Jack opened his mouth to comment on Martha choosing the Big Apple over Cardiff when the alien's message filtered through their computer systems, echoing off the high walls of the Hub.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There was nothing they could do. The Daleks had arrived on Earth and immediately announced they were taking human's on board their ship for testing.

Torchwood was safe for the time being. Their facility was hidden underground, not visible to the naked eye, but Jack knew it wouldn't be long before they were discovered; then it would be all over. Everyone would be dead.

Footsteps approached him and he looked up as Ianto sat down on the step next to him, Dominic in his arms. The older Time Agent bit his lip and willed down tears at the thought of losing his son and lover.

"What will happen to you if the Daleks exterminate you?" Ianto whispered, running his hand over Dominic's hair.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, placing his index finger in Dominic's hand, grinning through unshed tears as he felt him grip the digit tightly. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "Last time I faced them was when I was killed for the first time. Who knows? Maybe getting exterminated again will kill me for good."

Ianto cupped Jack's cheek with his hand, "Don't say that," he instructed, running his thumb across the other man's lower lip. "It's not like you to give up. I know the Daleks are powerful – I saw what happened at Canary Wharf – but we have to keep fighting, Will."

Jack placed his hand over Ianto's, squeezing it gently. "I don't know if it'll be enough this time," he sighed, leaning forward and kissing his lover. "Ianto, I…"

"Guys?" Gwen called from the work area and Jack almost cursed out loud; every single time! "There's someone trying to get through."

Jack rolled his eyes, "The whole world's calling out for help," he replied. "Just leave it."

"Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you."

Both Jack and Ianto's eyes met for a second before Jack jumped to his feet, running across the Hub to where Gwen was standing.

"Give him here," Tish told Ianto, holding her arms out for Dominic, allowing the other man to assist where needed.

"Who is it?" Ianto asked, stepping up to Jack as the image became clearer on the screen.

The middle aged woman held her passport up as proof of her identity. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister," she introduced herself.

x

Ianto's eyes widened in horror as he looked at the screen in front of him. Jack darted past him, phone glued to his ear as he continued talking with Martha.

"Gwen," Ianto called, "Daleks are heading for the bay. They found us," he whispered, his eyes turning fearfully to Dominic.

Jack grinned and cancelled the call, entering the numbers Martha had given him into his wrist strap. "That's all I needed to get it working this whole time," he grinned at Ianto, accepting the large gun Gwen was holding up.

"I gotta go," he told them. "I gotta go find the Doctor."

"No!" Ianto shouted, pushing past Gwen and glaring at Jack. "You have a family here, Jack. We need you. Not the Doctor."

Jack kissed Ianto hotly. "You and Nicky are exactly the reason why I'm doing this," he told the younger man. "I need to keep the planet safe for you. But I need you to stay here, Ianto." He kissed him again, softer this time, "Take care of Gwen, Tish and Nicky for me. I'll be back," he assured him.

"I will," he added, turning to Gwen and hugging her tightly. "I promise."

They watched helplessly as Jack pressed the teleport keys and winked before vanishing from in front of them.

As soon as Jack vanished there was a loud crash and various pieces of debris fell. Gwen and Ianto exchanged horrified looks, knowing what was happening.

While Gwen set about collecting weapons – which Ianto knew wouldn't work – the Time Agent grabbed hold of Tish's arm and lead her into the Captain's office. He pulled open the hatch covering the quarters below.

"Go on," he urged, taking Dominic off of her and holding him until she had descended the ladder.

Ianto pressed a kiss against his son's forehead before lowering him down into Tish's arms. "The Daleks won't be able to get down here," he told her. "It's sound proof and there's air conditioning, so you'll be okay for a few hours. Don't worry about us; Dominic is your priority, okay?"

Tish nodded her head and Ianto thanked her softly, closing the hatch and heading back into the main Hub.

Gwen handed him a machine gun and clip. "These don't work on Daleks," he pointed out.

The young woman shrugged her shoulders, loading the clip into her gun. "If I'm going to die, I'm not giving up without a fight."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

No one would have guessed, to look at Ianto, Tish and Gwen, that there was a Dalek and bullets frozen in the main Hub a few feet away.

Once Ianto had determined that Tosh's time lock was what was keeping them sealed inside the Hub – with no way for the Dalek to get in and no way for them to get out – they had relocated to Jack's office, where they could easily hide in Jack's quarters if needed.

Tish was lying across the doorway, her head near the door and propped up on a pillow from Jack's bed, reading one of Gwen's gossip magazines.

Gwen and Ianto were sat crossed legged facing each other with Dominic lying on his play mat between them, batting at the dangling toys above him as he chuckled to himself.

"I'm sorry Jack left for the Doctor again," Gwen eventually whispered, fingers toying with Dominic's rattle.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to discuss how he felt about the Time Lord with Gwen. "He did what he thought was right," he replied. "Can't fault him for that."

"Yeah," she breathed, nodding her head as they lapsed back into silence. "I… I'm sorry for not understanding your relationship," she spoke, her words almost too soft to hear.

"I…" Ianto frowned, "What?"

Gwen flushed and shifted her legs underneath her, kicking the play mat a little and startling Dominic. After he had settled again Gwen continued, "I'm sorry I was jealous of you."

A little unsure about what to say Ianto glanced down at Dominic, winking at him when his son blew a raspberry at his father. "I…" He shook his head, "Since we're admitting things, I guess I'm sorry as well."

"For not understanding your infatuation with Jack," he added for clarification.

Tish rolled her eyes as she listened to Ianto and Gwen offer each other possibly the worst apologies ever spoken.

"Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor, are you receiving me?"

Ianto and Gwen exchanged a look of surprise before jumping to their feet and fleeing the office, leaving Tish with Dominic.

The Time Agent tilted the monitor around and answered, "Loud and clear. Is Jack there?"

The image of the Doctor smirked at someone off screen before he replied, "Can't get rid of him."

Together they chuckled as they heard Jack's indignant reply. "Oi, like you'd want to!"

x

Martha rolled her eyes as she listened to the two Doctors and Donna conversing; she had no idea what they were talking about, only that it went completely over her head.

She looked around at the Doctor's companions – they were his family now, she supposed. All nine of them. Donna, her, Rose, Sarah Jane; as well as Mickey and Rose's mum. Her eyes fell on the Doctor's other companion, Captain Jack Harkness.

It wasn't often she saw him away from the crowd and silent; the fact that he was sat on his own, staring at the side of the TARDIS worried her immensely.

"You didn't tell him about Dominic," Martha whispered, placing her hand on his shoulder as she sat next to him.

Jack looked up in surprise when he felt someone's hand; when he saw it was Martha, he relaxed tenfold. She was surprised at how jumpy he seemed to be surrounded by all these people.

"I know," he replied, looking down at his hands once more.

"Why? I would have thought you'd be showing everyone baby pictures." She smiled, nudging him with her elbow in an effort to make him smile.

It didn't work, instead she realised he actually frowned deeper. "I don't want him," Jack nodded his head toward the Doctor – the real one. The one wearing the brown suit; god it was confusing with more than one. "To know about Nicky."

Martha glanced at the Doctors then back at Jack. "But why not? He's your friend, isn't he?"

"When we were at the Silo, he called me wrong, Martha. I'm immortal; a fact. Fixed point in time. That was never supposed to happen. I'm a freak."

She slapped him painfully on the back. "You are not wrong, Jack Harkness. We…" She cast another look at the Doctor, "Don't tell him I told you this, but we went to the future and met the Face of Boe."

"Don't look so surprised," she added. "I know you heard us talking about him before the whole thing with the Master. But, my point is," she continued, "we met the Face of Boe before I met you. The Doctor told me it wasn't the first time that they'd met. He met Boe before he met this version of you."

"You're not wrong, you are so very right. You were meant to be immortal, Jack." She smirked, "Or should I call you 'Boe'?"

Jack groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Oh god, I don't really go by that in the future, do I?" She nodded and he groaned again, "You do one thing to get some money and it sticks with you forever."

Martha laughed and hugged Jack tightly. "You'll always be Jack to me. Even if Ianto does call you 'Will'."

"How… How did you know that?" he demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "When a person is in labour, you'd be surprised what they call their partners. Owen was a little disappointed it wasn't something more… space-y."

"Owen knew?" Jack whispered. "He never said."

She squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "I think he understood that it was something you and Ianto needed to keep to yourselves. Something that was unique to the two of you. Don't worry," she kissed his cheek, "I won't tell anyone."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Martha hugged Jack tightly, pressing her lips against his cheek. "Call me tomorrow," she instructed, gripping his upper arms tightly.

Jack smiled and nodded his head. "You don't have to go to a hotel, you know," he stated for the hundredth time since the Doctor had dropped them off in London.

The younger doctor had taken Jack for a quick reunion with her parents, before heading to bed for a well-deserved sleep. Unfortunately for Jack, it hadn't lasted as long as he would have liked it to; Martha woke him up a few hours later to begin the long drive from London to Cardiff.

"I know I don't," Martha replied. "But you've just returned to Ianto after saving the world – again. That is one reunion I don't want to witness."

Jack chuckled and kissed her again before pushing her back in the car and waving her off. He waited until Tom's car disappeared around the corner before he turned to look up at the apartment building.

Their apartment was on the third floor and was in complete darkness, except for the small sliver of light he could see coming through the gap in the curtains of their bedroom.

When he reached the correct door, he entered, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was three in the morning; the last thing he wanted to do was wake Dominic up.

In the doorway to their bedroom, Jack paused and smiled to himself. Ianto was lying on his back, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxer shorts as he slept peacefully.

He left Ianto alone for a moment and silently made his way across the hall to Dominic's bedroom. The small nightlight was on and in the dim light, Jack could just about make out his son's sleeping features.

Jack pressed a kiss against the tips of his fingers before pressing them to Dominic's cheek, not wanting to wake the little boy up.

Ianto had rolled over his sleep and he was now facing Jack's side of the bed, almost as though he was waiting for his lover to join him.

More than happy to oblige, Jack stripped off his clothes – leaving them on the floor – and climbed into the bed. It was only when he was close enough that he noticed Ianto's phone lying next to him. They had spoken all of the way from London to Cardiff – or at least, until Ianto had fallen asleep listening to the sound of Jack's voice.

Smiling, Jack carefully placed the phone on the bedside table before sliding next to Ianto.

When he felt skin touch his own, Ianto's eyes flickered open and he grinned sleepily. "You came back," he whispered, running his fingers over Jack's cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Jack threw him a look, "Of course I did," he replied. "I promised you didn't I?"

Ianto nodded his head sleepily, kissing Jack gently before resting his head on his lover's shoulder.

"Never doubt that I'm coming back," he whispered, running his hand through Ianto's dark hair. "I love you, Ianto."

When he didn't get a response Jack frowned and pulled away, looking down at his lover. "Ianto?"

The other man didn't respond, he was fast asleep and clearly hadn't just heard the words Jack had just said.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ianto groaned and rubbed his hand over his face sleepily. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept for more than a few hours at once.

He rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock. The red digits flashed 10:03 and he sat upright in surprise and confusion; there was no way Dominic was still asleep this late in the morning. In fact, there was no way his son had slept through the whole night.

A wave of panic washed through him when he exited the bedroom and heard the sound of the television coming from the living room.

Jack heard footsteps behind him and lifted his head, grinning when he spotted his dishevelled lover. "Morning," he greeted brightly.

Ianto frowned in confusion, running his hand through his hair as he padded across the apartment. Jack was sitting on the couch, grinning down at his son who was lying on the floor between his father's feet, alternating between hitting one foot and then the other.

"When did you get back?" he asked, rubbing his hand over his eyes as he flopped onto the couch next to Jack.

Jack pressed a soft kiss against Ianto's lips. "Last night," he informed him. "Don't you remember?"

Ianto thought before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know," he muttered. "I thought it was a dream."

The doorbell rang and Jack got to his feet, stepping over Dominic and moving across the apartment. As soon as the door was open, Tish threw herself at Jack, hugging him tightly.

"Ow!" he cried suddenly when she punched his arm. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"For leaving," Tish scowled, entering the apartment and moving over the couch, not paying attention to Ianto's state of undress. "Hello…" She cooled, bending down and picking Dominic up. "You ready to come with me and leave daddy's telling off to tad?"

Ianto chuckled and kissed Tish's forehead, thanking her as she grabbed Dominic's changing back and headed out of the door, smacking Jack on the arm as she passed.

"Jones' are mean," Jack scowled, slamming the door closed and locking it.

The younger Time Agent raised an eyebrow, getting to his feet and crossing the room. "Really?" he purred, leaning closer and pressing Jack against the door. "If you think Tish is mean… What will you be calling me in a few hours?"

x

"Are you sure joining Torchwood is what you want?" Tom asked softly, removing a shirt from the suitcase and hanging it up in the wardrobe. They were staying at a hotel in the city for a while, until they could find somewhere more permanent as they got settled.

Martha nodded her head firmly, setting their toiletries down in the small bathroom. "UNIT isn't what I thought it would be. When they made me use that key…" She broke off, shaking her head sadly.

Tom hugged her and pressed his lips against her hair. After a moment, she moved out of his embrace, "Jack would never do that," she continued, pulling her laptop from the carry case and setting it on the table in the corner.

"So this is permanent?" he asked.

Martha looked at him nervously. "Is this okay?" she whispered, fiddling with her engagement ring in what had quickly become a nervous gesture.

"Of course it is," the other doctor replied, kissing her before resuming his task of unpacking. "It just means I need to find a job here in Cardiff."

She grinned widely and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she repeated a few times, feathering kisses all over his face. "Thank you," she added, cupping his cheek and kissing him hotly.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Damn it," Gwen growled, running into the wall unable to stop herself. "Ianto it's heading in your direction."

"I can't see it," Ianto's voice replied. "Where are you?"

"Around the corner from Pizza Hut," Gwen replied, taking a deep breath before starting running again. "Is it just me, or are these Weevil's getting faster?"

All four of them had split up a short while ago, deciding on the tactic of cornering the alien, so it couldn't avoid capture. That had been going well until Jack had run into a black bag that fallen off of a dumpster, making enough noise to wake the dead. The Weevil had spotted the Captain and immediately began running away.

"Maybe they've got treadmills in the sewers?" Jack suggested through their comms units.

"Not helping, Jack," Martha retorted, sounding just as out of breath as the rest of them. Jack was the only one who sounded like he could still breath, how he stayed in shape, Gwen never knew; she never had time to go the gym.

She rounded a corner and started in surprise when she saw the Weevil lying unconscious on the floor with a black man sitting on top of it.

"Is this what you do in Cardiff?" the man asked, looking up when he heard Gwen stomping toward him. "Let ugly aliens loose on the streets."

"We were catching it," Gwen retorted. "Who…?"

"Mickey Mouse!" Jack's voice shouted from the other side of the alley; she was glad to hear that he now sounded at least a little bit out of breath.

"Captain Cheesecake," Mickey smirked, saluting Jack before he caught the cuffs he threw at him.

"Put those on it," Jack instructed, resting his hands against his thighs as he took a deep breath, trying to regulate his heartbeat. "What are you doing here?" he asked once he could breath.

"Tried an office job for a few weeks," Mickey replied, getting to his feet once the Weevil was secured. "Realised that wasn't for me, then I remembered your offer."

"Offer?" Gwen asked in surprise, turning around to face Jack with a 'Why wasn't I told about this' look on her face.

Ianto glared at her and she backed down a little, remembering that she wasn't in charge of the team any more. The couple were.

"He turned me down," Jack retorted, pointing at Mickey.

"Well, I'm accepting now," Mickey retorted. "Although… Tell me not all the aliens are this ugly."

x

Ianto stepped into Jack's office, smiling at the other man who was sitting behind his desk. Jack wasn't working, just shuffling various pieces of paper around; he was so glad to be back, he was content to sit there for a while.

"You have a full team again," Ianto commented, sitting on the edge of the desk.

Jack smiled sadly and rested a hand on Ianto's thigh. "Yeah…" he sighed. "I know no one can replace Tosh and Owen, but having Martha and Mickey on the team makes me…"

"Feel safe again?" Ianto suggested. "Knowing that the team consists of people you know and trust?"

Jack smirked and reached up, threading his hand through his hair and pulling Ianto down, kissing him softly. "How do you do that?" he whispered against his lips.

Ianto smiled and tapped Jack's temple. "I know you," he replied, getting to his feet and pulling Jack out of the chair. "Come on, let's go home. That Weevil really was ridiculously fast; I'm exhausted."

"Yes, sir," Jack saluted, allowing his lover to drag him away from work.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

He frowned and fiddled with the piece of technology in his hands. It had taken him six years to find the parts he required to make his plan work. He could not afford to make mistakes now; not when there was so much at stake.

Unfortunately, travelling such a great distance drained the life from its power supply and he knew it would get him to his destination and back, allowing him to complete his task.

Worse still, he would only have one chance to obtain his target. His timing had to be perfect. The window of time he would be left with would be small, leaving no room for error. He had to lay down the trap at precisely the right moment, make a few calls then sit back and wait for the cavalry to arrive. Then he would strike and stage one of his plan would be complete.

For so many years he had been ostracised, alone with no contact from the outside world. None of his friends knew where he had vanished to, he had simply not been there one morning.

Little did they know that he had purposely isolated himself away from the world; alone with his research. He learnt about many wonderfully evil creatures, many of which could provide useful in his plans. But only one truly caught his eye, one so powerful and unrelenting it couldn't fail.

He had spent years building the monsters, welding them together piece by piece. Pouring part of his soul into their creation.

Soon they would be ready and he would send them back through time to the twenty first century. The Torchwood Institute was long gone now, but he knew enough to know that in the past, they have would responded to any kind of alien threat.

Soon, he thought. Soon Torchwood would know what it was like to be put through Hell and he would get exactly what he wanted.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Mickey scowled as he listened to the call that was currently being phoned into the police. "Jack!" he called through to the Time Agent's office. When Jack stuck his head around the door, Mickey explained, "Some kid's seen an alien."

"A kid?" Jack repeated incredulously, stepping out of the office and fastening his trousers as he made his way over to Mickey.

Ianto followed shortly behind him, fastening his shirt as he sat down at his desk. Gwen giggled to herself when she realised what the couple had been up to; Ever since Jack's return from his recent trip with the Doctor, they hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other.

"Sounds like a hoax," Ianto commented, idly refastening his tie.

"That's what the police think," Mickey replied, purposely not thinking about what the Captain and his second had been doing.

Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet, "Did he say what the alien looked like?" he questioned.

Mickey tapped away at the keyboard and a transcript of the recorded phone call appeared. "Black and gold with metal arms and a rotating head…" he trailed off and they all looked at him in surprise.

"It can't be," Jack whispered, fear starting to creep in to his voice.

"That's sounds a lot like…" Martha began, her eyes moving over to the archive door; it had taken three of them to get the destroyed alien out of the Hub.

"Come on," Jack instructed, jogging in to his office to grab his coat. "We're going to find this damn Dalek and finish their race off, once and for all."

x

The call turned out to have come from an abandoned hotel on the outskirts of Cardiff. The building was almost falling apart and didn't look as though it had been used since the turn of the 20th century.

"Jack," Ianto said, turning to his lover and studying his face. "Are you sure going in there is a good idea? The last time we went on a wild goose chase, we got blown up."

Jack met Ianto's blue eyes with his own and nodded his head. "I know, but what if this isn't a hoax? We can't let a Dalek survive, not after…"

He trailed off sadly, thinking about what the Doctor had been forced to do to Donna. Martha reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.

"We'll go in there, find whatever this is and put a stop to everything," she assured him, reaching blindly for the door handle before climbing out of the SUV.

Jack kissed Ianto softly on the lips before following her example and climbing out of the car.

At the bottom of the steps leading up to the entrance, Torchwood Cardiff looked up at the hotel. The faded sign over the door read, 'Paradise Hotel', and Ianto couldn't help thinking about how far the potentially beautiful building had fallen.

"Okay, team," Jack said decisively. "Let's do this."

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gwen was positive she had seen the hotel in a horror film at some point in her life. Everything around her looked as though it was directly off of a set. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each of the coated with a thick layer of dust and missing several crystals.

The paintings were faded and peeling at the corners. The ancient paint was cracking in certain areas and she was positive the subject's eyes were watching them as they surveyed the hotel.

"How many floors are there?" Jack asked, also looking around at the building; although Gwen thought she could see a look of sadness that such a building had fallen into disrepair.

"Nine," Ianto replied immediately, having counted them on the way down the road.

Jack immediately began dividing the hotel between them. Mickey was to take the lower floor and reception area; Gwen, the first floor, kitchens and dining room; Martha, the second floor; Ianto, the third and Jack would take the fourth. They would work their way up after they had checked the lower levels.

"Remember," Jack instructed before they split up. "If there is a Dalek, don't draw attention to yourself. Get the hell out of there. Keep your comms open at all times."

The stairs creaked under his boots and Ianto scowled, moving over so he was standing on the edge closest to the wall; that way they didn't creak and nothing could sneak up behind him.

There were thirteen stairs per flight, and two flights between floors, and no elevator, by the time Ianto arrived on the third floor he was feeling a little out of breath. He really needed to get in shape.

The third floor was mostly bedrooms, each looking as bleak and abandoned as the previous. Dust covered every available surface and Ianto couldn't help sneezing as he pushed a door open; he immediately cursed his own stupidity. The first rule of being an assassin was to remain silent at all times.

When nothing moved, he sighed with relief and left the room. The whole floor appeared to be deserted, just like the rest of the hotel. He knew it was a hoax; someone who had seen the Daleks and thought playing a joke would be fun.

A crash on the other end of the floor caught his attention and he immediately turned in the direction of the noise.

"Guys, I just heard something," Gwen's voice sounded through his comm unit.

He stopped in his tracks and frowned, "Me too," he whispered.

Mickey, Jack and Martha all confirmed that they too had heard noises and Ianto's frown deepened. "I don't like this," Ianto stated. "This is starting to look more and more like a trap…"

"I agree," Jack replied. "But we can't leave without investigating. There may be more than one. Be careful."

With a sigh, Ianto clicked back the safety on the gun and slowly made his way down the corridor. The noise had come from the fire exit on the other end of the corridor. It lead outside to a rickety fire escape, where you could either go up to the roof or down to the ground.

He reached out a hand to try the door, only for it to fall to the ground as the hinges disintegrated from use. Wincing he stepped further into the side room, gun drawn and he scanned the area in front of him, making sure he checked in all the dark corners and anywhere someone – or something – could hide.

None of them noticed a small – almost invisible – disk attached to one of the walls in each room.

"Guys, there's nothing…" Ianto began to say.

Although, the rest of his sentence was drowned out by the room exploding…

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

As the smoke cleared, Ianto immediately activated the comm link, connecting him to the rest of the team.

"Everyone okay?" he demanded, looking around the room. The décor – however pitiful it may have been – had been destroyed, but for the most part the damage seemed mostly superficial.

Gwen's voice was the first to filter through the line. "I'm fine," she assured the Time Agent. "The wall's broken, there's water everywhere and I'm wet. How is there still water in the boiler after all this time?" she growled and he could hear water splashing about in the background. "But apart from that, I'm fine."

"Martha?" Ianto asked.

Martha coughed a little and when she spoke, her voice was gravely and a little thick.

"All limbs accounted for," came the medic's voice.

"What the Hell was that?" Mickey demanded and they could all hear him stomping around and kicking things out of the way as he attempted to free himself. "That was definitely not a Dalek."

"No idea," Ianto replied, his voice distracted as he tried to focus on climbing over various pieces of debris without killing himself. "Jack?"

Silence answered him and he paused, mid-step, waiting for the other man's voice to answer him. When he didn't hear anything he continued moving, only stopping when he reached the door.

"Jack?" he repeated, the urgency in his voice increasing.

"Ianto, why isn't he answering?" Gwen's fearful voice asked.

A short while ago, Ianto would have snapped a hurtful comment at the Welshwoman for asking a stupid question, but now he only felt pained at the fear in her voice. "I don't know," he replied, trying to keep calm as he moved down the corridor to the stairwell.

"I'm heading up there to take a look," he advised the rest of the team.

"We'll meet you there," Gwen informed him decisively. The tone of her voice told him that it was stupid for him to argue.

Ianto ran up the remaining stairs, not caring that he was out of breath when he reached the fourth floor. He ran down the corridor, kicking in various doors and finding nothing behind them.

When he reached the end of the corridor he paused outside the door, trying to catch his breath. He looked up, immediately training his gun on the person in front of him as he heard someone come up the stairs.

He lowered the weapon when he spotted Gwen and Martha moving towards him, Mickey not too far away. Ianto placed a finger on his lips and indicated that he was going in first.

With a deep breath, he kicked the door open and entered the room. It was dark and relatively undamaged; unlike the rooms they had been in, which were all pretty much destroyed now.

Ianto checked around the room, intently checking for any remaining threats before lowering his gun, whatever had brought them there had disappeared.

Gwen flicked the light on when Ianto gave her a nod and they all winced at the sudden intrusion of bright light.

Martha gasped in shock and horror when they saw a pool of blood in the centre of the room, right next to Jack's coat and Vortex Manipulator.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Anything?" Ianto demanded, moving from his computer to Gwen's and peering over her shoulder at the screen.

She shook her head, distress clearly written on her face. "Nothing," she replied, thumping away at her keyboard. "Whoever did this managed to avoid all of the CCTV cameras."

"Any idea who could have done this?" Mickey asked, looking away from his own computer for a moment before returning to his task.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders, "Jack's lived for over a hundred and fifty years," he was not including the time his lover spent buried alive, "there are probably thousands of people out there that he's pissed off."

Gwen froze mid-keystroke and slowly turned to face Ianto, "Do you think Captain Hart could have done this?" she whispered. "He did blow us up once before."

That thought had already occurred to Ianto but he had pushed it away. "I don't think so," he assured her. "He's accepted that he's not going to get Jack to himself again. Plus, I told him I'd kill him if he came near us again. He's not that stupid."

"But the question still remains, who could do something like this without being spotted?" Mickey persisted.

Silence answered him, none of them knowing what to do next.

x

Martha knocked lightly on the wooden frame of Jack's office. Ianto looked up from the paper he was staring down at; he wasn't really reading it, he couldn't focus on the words when he didn't know where Jack had vanished to.

"Hey," he offered her a tight smile, not bothering to keep pretences up with her. He was scared for his family and he didn't mind her knowing that. "Have you found anything?"

She shook her head regretfully, entering the office fully and moving around the desk to stand next to her friend. She grinned when she saw Dominic in his carry-seat, sleeping peacefully, unaware of the stressful events around him.

"I…" She hesitated, not entirely sure how receptive Ianto would be to her idea. "I think I have a way to find Jack though," she eventually whispered.

Ianto's eyes met hers immediately. "Why haven't you already tried it?" he demanded.

Martha flinched away from his anger a little before she straightened her spine and looked into his eyes. "Because I know you don't particularly like the Doctor," she retorted.

Ianto slumped back in his seat, looking up at Martha. "The Doctor?" he asked, his voice even.

He had never thought about involving the Time Lord in their hunt for Jack, but as he thought about the idea in retrospect it seemed like the most logical course of action.

Martha nodded, "Maybe he can think of a way to find him," she suggested.

The Time Agent looked down at his sleeping son, noticing for the first time that he when he frowned in his sleep, he looked just like Jack. Jack… The thought of the other man being away from their son made something inside Ianto hurt so much.

"How can you get in touch with him?" he asked, his voice almost too quiet for her to hear.

Martha held her mobile phone up. "Same way we did last time," she replied, flipping the phone open. "Are you sure about this?"

Ianto shook his head, "No," he replied honestly. "I don't trust him; he abandoned Jack the first time, who's to say he won't leave him now?"

"He won't do that," the young woman assured him. "He's… Well, I think he loves Jack. Not in that way," she added quickly, seeing Ianto's eyes darken, "but in the father/son kind of way. He'll be able to help us."

"Do it," Ianto instructed with a sigh, tucking Dominic's blanket around him a little tighter.

He sat in silence, watching as Martha dialled the Doctor's number and waited for the call to go through. After several attempts, she lowered the phone and looked at Ianto with a terrified expression.

"He's not answering."

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

As usual Jack came back to life with a gasp and a painful jerk back to the living world. No matter how many times he died – he had actually lost count around two hundred – it never got any easier.

It was almost as though there were an iron fist around his heart, grabbing him and pulling him back from the blackness and oblivion. The wound in his head was already healing; the bullet forcing its way from his skull. With a clatter it dropped the floor. Only, the noise he heard wasn't the bullet hitting concrete, it hit metal first.

With a panic Jack realised that he couldn't sit up. His wrists and ankles were bound by metallic restraints and, while his head was free to turn from side to side, there was also a restraint across his torso.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that he was in, what looked like an old mannequin warehouse. There were human shaped figures scattered throughout the large room – maybe five or six in total. All of them were covered with large dust sheets, preventing Jack from seeing what was hidden underneath them.

Beyond his feet he could see a large mirror, and looking at his reflection in the glass, he came to the horrifying realisation that he recognised what he was lying on. But it couldn't be…

Ianto had helped Jack destroy the only remaining conversion unit in existence…

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It had been a week since Jack's disappearance and Ianto was becoming more and more agitated by the day.

Dominic also seemed to know that something was wrong. Whenever he woke up, he would cry for hours until he tired himself out, demanding attention from his daddy.

The lack of sleep and stress finally took its toll on Ianto one Wednesday afternoon and Martha, taking matters into her own hands, made Tish take Dominic outside for a walk, and made Ianto lie down on the sofa in the Hub.

"I mean it, Ianto," she instructed, pressing him against the couch, "either you get some rest or I will sedate you," she threatened. "With needles!"

Ianto sighed and relented, lying back against the cushions and Martha pressed her lips against his forehead. "Jeez, no wonder Jack doesn't argue with you. You're scary," he muttered, not missing the irony of an assassin being scared by a doctor.

"Jack doesn't always do what I tell him," she informed him, her eyes darkening in annoyance. "He still hasn't…" She shook her head, "Never mind. Get some rest. The rest of us will hold down the fort."

Ianto smiled gratefully. "Thank you," he whispered. "Don't forget the Doctor…" His eyes fluttered closed and he drifted off to sleep quickly.

x

Gwen looked up when Martha exited the office, closing the door softly behind her. "Is he okay?" she asked, her eyes wide and almost teary.

Martha nodded, squeezing her shoulder as she sat down next to her. "He'll be miles better once we get Jack back," she replied, scanning the computer screen.

For the past week they had been alternating their skills between dealing with the Rift and the search for Jack. Their problems with various aliens throughout the city were easily solved in comparison to hunting for Jack.

The other man had vanished completely without a trace. There was nothing on the CCTV footage from the abandoned hotel he had disappeared from. And, with Jack's Vortex Manipulator being left behind, they couldn't track him using Ianto's own wrist strap.

Martha had been trying to call the Doctor every hour for the past seven days and each call had either disconnected after a hundred rings, or had gone straight through the voicemail Martha had programmed into the phone.

"Try calling the Doctor again," Mickey suggested from across the Hub, sliding the filing cabinet closed with a resounding thud.

Martha sighed and reached across, hooking her phone up to the speaker system on Gwen's desk. She had a feeling that this attempt would be like every other; the Doctor wouldn't answer.

Every unanswered call made Martha more and more nervous about the Time Lord's wellbeing. After leaving Donna behind, and watching all his other companions leave him, she wasn't entirely sure he would be okay on his own.

Gwen nudged her in the side, snapping her back to the Hub with a jolt. "Sorry," she apologised, flipping the phone open and calling the Doctor.

All three of them held their breath for what felt like an eternity until the call was answered with a happy, "Hello!"

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jack was having a panic attack. Actually he had already had three. But none of them had really helped him. One time he had actually managed to kill himself – not letting his lungs get enough oxygen as he panicked, but unfortunately he had returned to find himself in the exact same position.

"Captain, you know as well as I do, that killing yourself doesn't make things any better."

The Time Agent scowled in the direction of the mirror. Over the past – how long had he been there? – he had come to the conclusion that it was a two way mirror, similar to the ones used in police interrogation rooms.

There was someone on the other side of the glass. Watching him squirm and try to come up with a way out of the situation. Occasionally the man – he assumed the voice belonged to a male; it sounded like it – would exit the room, wander around Jack, inspecting the conversion unit before heading back behind his mirror, never entering Jack's vision the whole time.

"Why are you doing this?" Jack demanded, wrestling against his binds. He never moved too far, if he dislocated a limb it wouldn't kill him, but Jack knew it would hurt like Hell.

As predicted, silence answered him and he rolled his eyes. His captor never told him his plans; life was only that kind on television.

"I think…" His voice sounded from the speakers in each corner of the room. "That it's time to see just how much your immortality can take."

Jack felt panic rise up inside him. He had suspected for a while that the situation would eventually reach that point, but he had been hoping to find a way out of there before it did.

His captor returned, pulling one sheet off a nearby figure, throwing the sheet to the floor before returning back to the safety of his little office.

To his right a machine purred to life and Jack heard the tell-tale signs of metal joints creaking after a long period of disuse. "Let's see if you can withstand this…"

Large metal footsteps grew closer and what had quickly become his worse fear came into his vision. Standing over him, the figure pressed a closed fist to the disc on its chest, activating the conversion unit before taking a step back.

Jack felt the blood rush to his head as he was tilted backwards. "Please no," he whispered under his breath, noticing for the first time that there was a very familiar circular opening above him.

The metal covering slid back, revealing a bunch of knives and drills. Survival instincts kicked in and he tried to get away from the inevitable. He didn't know what would happen to him, but he really didn't want to find out.

Unable to move, Jack slumped against the metal bed he was lying on. He tried to press himself as close to the metal, hoping that the tools wouldn't be able to reach him.

To his horror he felt the conversion unit rising to meet the tools. He was going to be converted, there was no doubt about it.

As the Cyberman began its conversion, the only sounds in the warehouse were blood being spilt, blades clashing and Jack's pained screams.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

To say Ianto wasn't happy about the Doctor's imminent arrival was an understatement. He hadn't been lying when he told Martha that he didn't trust the Time Lord. He couldn't help feeling hatred towards the man who had abandoned Jack and made him wait over a hundred years before returning and giving him the answers he had been looking for.

Martha glanced over at Ianto, for the first time beginning to doubt whether she had done the right thing by calling the Doctor.

As soon as he had learnt about Jack's mysterious disappearance and the continued lack of contact from any potential kidnappers, the Doctor had immediately informed them that he was on his way and would be there in the next few hours.

It had been three days and the Doctor still hadn't shown his face.

"Is he always this punctual?" Ianto asked dryly, bouncing Dominic on his lap. The small boy was beginning to settle down, and while he didn't understand where his daddy was, he seemed to understand that he needed to behave for his tad, Mickey and Aunts.

Martha glared at him, "He just gets the timing wrong, that's all," she tried to convince them all. "He'll be here. He wants to help Jack. He…"

Almost on command, a wind blew through the Hub, scattering various pieces of paper in all directions. Dominic started to cry a little at the drop in temperature and Ianto shushed him and gently placed his son in Tish's arms, getting to his feet as a blue Police Box materialised in front of them.

"It's a bit small," Gwen commented, giving the box the once over. "You said there were nine of you in there."

Martha shrugged her shoulders, "It's bigger on the inside," she replied distractedly, running across the Hub when the doors opened and threw herself into the Doctor's arms.

"Took you long enough," she cried, pulling back and punching him on the arm.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his arm with a pained expression – Gwen noticed that he was rubbing his elbow, even though Martha had punched the top of his arm.

"You're late," Martha stated, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the Time Lord.

The Doctor looked puzzled for a moment, almost as though he couldn't remember the events of the past week, before his eyes widened and he nodded his head. "Yeah, sorry," he apologised, stepping around her and taking in the Hub. "I was being chased by a…"

He trailed off when he spotted Myfanwy fly above their heads, studying the intruder to determine if he was a threat. "Wow!" he breathed, practically bouncing on the spot. "You have a pterodactyl! Can I…?"

Martha shook her head, "Maybe later," she told him, feeling as though she was talking to an over excited child. "We need to find Jack."

The Doctor blinked, remembering why he had headed to Torchwood Cardiff in the first place. "Mickey!" he greeted, waving at the young man a few feet away.

"Tish!" he cried suddenly, seeing Martha's sister sitting at a desk. "Martha didn't tell me you worked for Torchwood…"

As he got closer, he spotted the baby in Tish's arms and stopped short. "And she definitely didn't tell me you had a baby," he added, looking at Martha with a confused expression.

"What? Oh no," Tish shook her head, "he's not mine."

"He's mine," Ianto stated, making the Doctor spin around in a full 360-degree circle to face him.

"Ianto," he stated.

The Time Agent nodded his head, holding his hand out to the Doctor. "Nice to meet you," he lied.

"Yes," the Doctor replied, shaking Ianto's hand vigorously. "Still, Torchwood isn't exactly the safest place for a child, don't you think? What did Jack have to say about it? He does know, doesn't he? 'Cause that would be awkward when he gets back. I remember one time…"

"He knows," Ianto assured him, recalling Martha's advice about not letting him go off on a tangent. "Dominic is Jack's son as well."

Silence fell over the Hub and the members of Torchwood shifted uncomfortably as the Doctor absorbed Ianto's bombshell.

"What?" The Doctor shook his head, "What?!"

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The Doctor had been itching to get his hands on Dominic all afternoon. The Time Lord was desperate to examine Jack's son, but Ianto had flat out refused, telling the Doctor that he would shoot him if he even touched their child.

None of the team doubted that what he said was true, so they had taken it upon themselves to keep the Doctor away from Dominic. Distracting him with the pterodactyl hadn't been all that difficult.

"Doctor," Martha called from the main Hub, looking up toward Myfanwy's nest where the Doctor was conversing with the dinosaur.

A head of messy brown hair appeared from the nest and Gwen chuckled at the wide-eyed expression on the Doctor's face.

"We need to find Jack," Martha reminded him, trying to remain patient. How Ianto had refrained from stealing the TARDIS was anyone's guess; they had been waiting for the Doctor for hours now.

"Oh, yes," he replied, getting to his feet and moving over the ladder.

Supporting one foot on either side of the ladder, the Doctor slid down and landed on the ground with a graceful hop. "Right," he began, pulling his glasses from his pocket and heading over to the computers. "What do you have in mind?" he asked, glancing at the blank screens around him.

"I connect Jack's Vortex Manipulator to the TARDIS' mainframe and we use her to find Jack," Ianto replied simply, not moving from his seat.

"Anything else?" The Doctor raised a questioning eyebrow. Ianto shook his head and the Doctor grinned widely. "Brilliant. I love simple ideas. They don't have a lot of things to go wrong. Come on then," he instructed, bounding off in the direction of the TARDIS.

"Is that it?" Ianto asked in surprise, getting to his feet and pulling Jack's Manipulator out of a drawer.

The Doctor span around and looked at him in confusion. "What? Is what it?" His frown deepened as he studied Ianto.

"You're not going to tell me I can't come with you? That's it's too dangerous?"

He scoffed, "Of course not. You're Torchwood, aren't you? You know what danger is. Besides, life's boring without a little bit of danger… And running. Oh, don't forget comfortable shoes. There will be running involved, no doubt."

Martha stepped up and hugged the Time Lord tightly. "Find him, Doctor," she pleaded with him, pushing her tears away as she stepped back.

The Doctor nodded his head and hugged Gwen tightly, whispering his goodbyes in her ear. Tish was next in line; only she was holding Dominic in her arms. The same Dominic the Doctor hadn't been allowed near.

Tish looked questioningly at Ianto who nodded his head in resignation. As the Doctor took Dominic in his arms, the Time Agent's eyes never wavered; he was like an eagle watching his prey, ready to swoop in at the first sign of discomfort from Dominic.

The Doctor cooed at Dominic when he complained at being shifted from person to person. After a few words that none of them understood, Dominic settled down and immediately began making his usual nonsense sounds.

They all watched as the Doctor nodded his head happily and continued conversing with Dominic in words Ianto could only assume were Gallifraen.

"He's a wonderful boy," the Doctor complimented, looking up at Ianto as he handed Dominic to Gwen.

Feeling a little surprised at the words, Ianto nodded his head numbly. "Thank you," he replied softly, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

Finally the Doctor hugged Tish before bounding into the TARDIS, preparing her for flight.

Once the Doctor was out of sight, Gwen looked over at Ianto. "Are you sure going with him is the best idea?" she asked nervously. "I mean, he could find Jack on his own and bring him back."

Ianto wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close. "I know," he replied. "But I need to find Jack, if someone was this clever – and powerful enough – to make him vanish from this time, the Doctor will need my help."

"You're in charge now, Gwen," he told the former police officer. "Torchwood is all yours. Take care of it."

He pressed his lips against her forehead, before hugging Martha and Tish. He clapped Mickey on the back before taking Dominic from Gwen.

"I won't be long," he assured his son softly. "I'm going to get your daddy and then you can tell him off for being an idiot." He pressed his lips against Dominic's forehead, "I love you," he whispered, willing down tears as he handed him back to Gwen.

The young woman opened her mouth, but the Doctor stuck his head around the open door to the TARDIS. "Oi!" he called across the Hub. "Are you coming or not?"

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Doctor seemed a little put out when Ianto's reaction to the TARDIS wasn't amazement at the size of her interior.

"Don't you want to know how I get the outside around the inside?" he asked, leaning one hand against the console.

Ianto shook his head, running his hand over the wall nearby. He could practically feel the ship humming; it felt loving and familiar. That was when he realised it was the same energy he could sometimes sense running through Jack. "I already know."

"You do?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"I'm from the fifty-first century," Ianto told him. "TARDIS' are the stuff of legends."

The Doctor nodded his head, still looking upset because he couldn't give his usual speech. "Do you have Jack's Vortex Manipulator?"

Ianto threw the wrist strap to the Time Lord, who easily caught it and flicked the cover back. Ianto watched as the Doctor used his screwdriver to fix the travelling functions he had deactivated last time.

"You didn't have to do that," Ianto pointed out. "Jack's not about to run off through time and space recklessly."

"I didn't know that at the time," the Doctor replied distractedly. He paused in wiring the TARDIS' computer to the Vortex Manipulator, "You don't like me, do you?"

"No," Ianto stated simply. He saw no reason why he should lie now that he was actually on-board the TARDIS. "You left Jack alone, knowing he was still alive."

The Doctor busied himself with directing the ship towards Jack's biological signature. "Yeah, well…" He trailed off as he ran around the other side of the control panel. "If I hadn't… Grab that, would you?" he pointed to the control next to the Time Agent.

Ianto pointed at the control and the Doctor nodded his head. "Why did you leave him?" he asked after several long moments of silence.

"Because," the Doctor replied as though that one word explained everything. "It's… complicated," he finally sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair. "I can't tell you. Spoilers…" His eyes turned away, remembering the last person had said that to, before he looked back, "You're together now and… You've got a gorgeous son," he grinned. "A family. Be grateful for that; some of us can't experience something so wonderful."

A melancholy mood covered them, almost suffocating the pair, before the TARDIS computer beeped loudly, grabbing the Doctor's attention.

"Yes!" the Doctor cried, tilting the screen around so Ianto could see it. "We've got a fix on Jack's biological structure."

"Can she tell if he's okay?" Ianto asked, moving so he was standing next to the Time Lord.

The Doctor shook his head. "He's alive, but considering this is Jack that's not really a great comfort I'm sure…" He trailed off when he saw Ianto's glare. "Right," he continued, glancing back at the computer screen. "It'll take a few hours to get there, even with the TARDIS' power. Something seems to be shielding him."

Ianto sighed and leant against the console, closing his eyes as he felt the weariness of the past few weeks catch up on him.

The Doctor, sensing his tiredness, said, "Get some rest." He pointed down the corridor, "Take the fifth door on the left, under the ladder around the corner and up the stairs; Jack always preferred that bedroom."

x

The bedroom was different from what he had been expecting. There was a large – probably antique – four-poster bed, its posts made from dark red wood. He ran his hand down the post, feeling the varnished surface under his palm.

A large armchair sat in the corner, obviously well used if the faded colours of the cushions were anything to go by. Ianto ran his hand along the bookshelf that lined on wall; all were titles from the fifty-first century, books he hadn't seen since he was a child. He wondered where Jack had managed to get hold of them; or maybe the Doctor had been in possession of them for centuries.

With a tired yawn, Ianto undressed. He dropped his clothes onto the armchair and slid under the covers, wearing nothing more than his underwear.

He buried his face in the pillow and felt tears well up when he recognised the familiar scent lingering. Jack had definitely spent more than one night there; his scent hung on every fibre of the bed.

Rolling over onto his back, Ianto squeezed his eyes shut and tried to not think about how divided his family was.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Ianto awoke with a start, in a strange bed surrounded by Jack's scent. He rolled over, half-expecting to find Jack lying next to him. He felt disappointment lodge in his stomach when he realised Jack wasn't there. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, finally remembering where he was and why.

He was on the TARDIS, travelling with the Doctor to find Jack, who had been kidnapped by god knows who, for god knows what reasons.

With a sigh, the Time Agent threw back the covers and pulled on the clothes he had been wearing the night before; he didn't have anything with him and he was too preoccupied to rummage through the Time Traveller's wardrobe.

The Doctor was sitting on a seat, looking at the screen in front of him. He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching. "Morning," he greeted, grinning brightly before turning back to the screen.

"Are we getting close?" Ianto asked, running a hand through his hair, trying to straighten it, before sitting next to the Doctor.

He nodded his head, pointing at the screen. "Another hour and we'll be there. Looks like we're going to have to land a distance away from Jack though. Whoever's got him, is shrouding his location. She can't get an exact fix on him."

"How far away?"

"Oh…" The Doctor looked up as he calculated the distance, "About half a mile?"

Ianto nodded his head, that wasn't as bad as some of the situations he had imagined. "Where are we?" he eventually asked.

"Home," the Doctor answered. "Well, for you and Jack, that is."

Ianto's eyes widened in surprise, "Home?" he repeated. "Whoever did this, took Jack to the fifty-first century?"

The Doctor agreed and studied Ianto. "Don't you have any idea about who would do something like this?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "There's a Time Agent – Mike, or Captain Hart – he tried to kill us all once before. Actually managed to get two of my friends killed and buried Jack alive for over a thousand years."

The Doctor gasped in surprise and stared at the younger man. "He was buried alive? When?"

"Just before Davros."

"He…" The Time Lord ran a hand through his hair. "Wow, he never mentioned anything like that. We didn't really speak much, actually."

They were silent until Ianto continued, "I don't think Mike would do something like this, though."

"Why not? Like you said, he hurt Jack before."

"I told him that I'd kill him if he hurt us again," Ianto replied simply. "I was a Time Agent, as well."

"One from Floor –2," the Doctor nodded knowingly.

Ianto's eyes widened, "How… How can you possibly know that?"

"Oh," the Doctor winced and looked away. "Never mind, just ignore me. Mind runs a mile a minute… I just do… Oh!" he cried, distracting himself from digging his way out of the hole he was currently in. "Something's heading this way…"

Ianto got up and moved to look at the screen as well. "What is it?"

The Doctor pursed his lips, rubbing his chin in thought as he studied the screen. "It looks like some kind of energy." He jumped and reached deep into his pocket, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver, "Hang on," he muttered, tongue poking out as he activated the device and pointed it at the screen.

A few moments later his eyes widened. "What? Oh that can't be good!"

"What?" Ianto demanded. "What can't be good?"

"You might want to hold on," the Doctor advised. "Whatever that thing is, it's heading straight for us."

"You've got extrapolator shielding," Ianto reminded him. "It won't be able to get through."

The words were barely out of his mouth before the energy field hit them and the TARDIS exploded.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Ianto awoke with a groan, clutching his head painfully as he sat up. How did he end up on the floor? Last thing he remembered, he had been standing by the TARDIS console, watching on the screen as the energy approached them…

"Oh, good," the Doctor commented, his voice far too loud for Ianto's headache. "You're awake."

"What happened?" Ianto groaned, staggering to his feet and feeling the blood rush through his head.

The Doctor glanced at him for a moment before turning back to the computer screen and studying it intently. "What?" He moved to the other side of the console, "Grab that," he instructed, pointing to the handbrake. "The energy hit us but the TARDIS' shields protected us." He grinned at Ianto before returning to the computer, "Just a bit of turbulence. Nothing to worry about."

Ianto still felt confused but he couldn't comment on his feelings because the Doctor brought the TARDIS to a stop, almost throwing him to the ground once more. "We're here," he announced proudly.

He took a deep breath in and turned his eyes to the doors. Outside those wooden panels was the fifty first century; the place he had been born and grew up in. It seemed so strange to think that the place he had been chased from was now the place he had to return if he wanted to reunite his family once more.

Together, they left the TARDIS, stepping out into the future.

"What the…?" Ianto asked in surprise, looking around at the area. "I know this place," he informed the Doctor. "My tad worked here when I was a kid." He paused, trying to remember what the factory had once been, "Weapons factory I think. Can't remember exactly what though."

Ianto pulled his gun out from where it was hidden underneath his jacket, tucked into his belt. "Whoa!" the Doctor cried, seeing the weapon. "Where did that come from?" he demanded.

The Time Agent rolled his eyes. "I'm a Time Agent, and if you know as much about me as I think you do, you'll know I'm an assassin. Jack is in there somewhere and we don't know who – or what – took him. I'm not going in there without a gun."

He looked at the Doctor, trying to meet his eyes, only for the Time Lord to look away hurriedly. "Okay," he relented. "But only shoot if it's necessary. I know what you Time Agents are like; shooting enough bullets and hoping you'll hit the target."

Ianto chuckled and nodded his head, agreeing to the Doctor's conditions. "Don't worry," he assured him. "I was trained by the best."

"And who would that be?"

"Jack."

x

The warehouse was dark and damp as Ianto made his way silently down the corridor. He and the Doctor had split up at the entrance to the building, Ianto taking the west side, while the Doctor took the east.

Splitting up wasn't the best idea in Ianto's book – especially not after what had happened the last time they had split up. But, given the size of the building and the urgency to find Jack, he knew they didn't have a choice but to go separate ways.

There were tiny rooms leading off the main corridors, around twenty per corridor. Slowly and methodically Ianto checked each one of them, ensuring there was no one occupying the room before moving on.

Occasionally he heard a noise and he froze in his tracks, waiting for another sound. When he didn't hear anything he continued moving through the building.

Jack had to somewhere in the building; there was no way technology as advanced as the TARDIS could be wrong.

As Ianto reached the end of the corridor, he found the door slightly ajar. That itself was enough of a warning that he was about to walk into a trap. Every other door had been closed firmly; this one was almost inviting him in.

But he also knew that he didn't have a choice. If Jack was behind that door, he needed to enter the room.

However, nothing could have prepared him for what he found on the other side.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Jack was imagining things; he knew it. He had been picturing Ianto's face hovering over him for so long that now he had actually progressed to full on hallucinations.

"Will," the fake Ianto breathed, looking into his blue eyes.

There were tears shining in his eyes and Jack hated himself for causing the tears, not matter how fake they may be. "You're not real," Jack whispered, averting his eyes. The pain was making him delirious; that was what was wrong with him.

"What?" Ianto's voice asked in confusion. "Will, it's me. I'm here. I really am."

He felt soft lips against his own, the feeling of them so familiar and warm. His eyes flew wide in surprise. "Ianto?" he asked in confusion, his mind thick with the haziness of pain.

Ianto smiled through his tears and nodded his head. "I'm here," he whispered, running a hand down Jack's cheek. "What have they done to you?" he added, looking down at Jack's body sadly.

Jack gaze followed Ianto's and he felt his stomach lurch in disgust. For the past – however long, he had avoided looking down at what was being done to him. But now, seeing that he was partially converted made him want to vomit. He looked similar to Dean's girlfriend, Lisa. Except, only Jack's arms and legs had been converted so far.

"They…" He took a deep breath, trying to remember what his captor had cackled. "They figured out that if they convert me all once…" He paused, gritting his teeth against the pain before continuing, "If they do that, I'll die and revert back to normal. If they convert me piece by piece it sticks, no matter how painful it may be."

Jack's eyes met Ianto's and even though he was in a tremendous amount of pain, spoke his next words very clearly. "You need to kill me, Ianto."

"What?" Ianto practically shouted, shaking his head quickly. "I don't think fucking think so!" he cried. "There has to be another way to reverse this," he muttered, tears falling as he saw the seriousness in Jack's eyes.

"I can't," he whispered, resting his forehead against Jack's.

Jack wished he could wrap his arms around Ianto. As it stood at the moment, his arms were firmly secured by his sides and if he touched Ianto he would probably kill him and that was something Jack would never let himself do, which was why Ianto had to end this life.

"Ianto, you have to," Jack replied, his eyes wide and pleading. "Just shoot me – I know you've got your gun – and I'll revert back to myself. You know it won't kill me permanently."

Ianto shook his head, "I can't," he repeated, tearing flowing freely as he captured Jack's lips. "Please…" he begged. "Don't make me."

Both men were so wrapped in each other, that neither of them noticed the door open and Jack's kidnapper enter the room, until he spoke.

"Hello, Ianto."

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Ianto looked up in surprise, the safety immediately coming off of his gun. "Caleb?" he whispered in horror.

It had been almost ten years since he had seen his older brother, but there wasn't one thing about him that had changed.

"I knew you'd come," Caleb stated, moving away from the door and talking several steps toward Ianto and Jack.

"Ianto, get out of here," Jack muttered through his teeth. "He's the one that did this to me. He's crazy."

"Shut up, you," Caleb snarled, pressing a button on the control he was holding in his left hand.

Instantly the covered Cybermen sprang to life, moving from their 'relaxed' position to a battle stance. They were ready for orders: Caleb the only thing standing between them and their prey.

"Let him go," Ianto instructed, getting to his feet and pointing the gun at his brother, not liking how much his hand was shaking.

Caleb laughed and rolled his eyes. "Look at you, you can't even hold a gun without shaking like a little girl. Pathetic," he spat.

"Ianto…" Jack tried to get his lover's attention.

"Why are you doing this?" Ianto demanded, ignoring the Captain for the moment. His attention was focused solely on Caleb.

He barked with laughter and raised his right arm, pointing his own weapon as his younger brother. "Avenging a wrongful death."

Ianto frowned and studied Caleb in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You're a Time Agent," he indicated to the Vortex Manipulator on Ianto's wrist.

Understanding was still nowhere in sight for Ianto as he tried to attach himself to Caleb's twisted line of thought. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Tad…"

Immediately Ianto realised what Caleb was thinking. "Caleb…" He shook his head, lowering his gun a little. "That's… That's not possible."

"Yes, it is," Caleb insisted, shaking his head, his gun wavering a little. "For almost ten years you've had the ability to go back and change what happened. You could have stopped him from dying and they'd both still be alive. Him and Lee."

Ianto took a step towards Jack, knowing that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. "I couldn't do that," he whispered. "There are rules against that kind of…"

"Screw the rules," Caleb snapped. "For ten years I've been trying to think of reasons why you didn't do anything to save him, and 'the rules' is the best excuse you can think of?"

Wishing the Doctor would hurry up and arrive – although what he would do with no weapon, Ianto had no idea – the Time Agent took another step closer to Jack.

"Will?" Jack made a humming noise in the back of his throat, indicating that he had heard. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, slowly turning around and pressing his gun under Jack' chin. "Please forgive me."

When he pulled the trigger, his gun wasn't the only one that fired. The barrel on Caleb's own weapon, which was trained on his brother, was now smoking.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Jack came back to life with a gasp – the same as always. He groaned when he felt a bolt of pain shoot through his skull.

"Captain, you're awake," called Caleb's far-too cheerful voice from the opposite end of the room.

To his surprise, Jack found that his hands were free and he was able to sit up. Although he had a feeling standing would be a problem since he hadn't walked for… He had given up trying to figure out how long he had been there.

Ignoring Caleb, Jack's eyes travelled to the prone figure on the floor and he immediately felt bile rise in his throat and tears form in his eyes. Ianto was lying face down in a pool of his own blood. The younger man was unmoving; clearly dead from a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

"What the fuck have you done?" he demanded, trying to get to his feet. He let out a sigh of annoyance when he fell against the conversion unit; his body still hadn't fully regained the use of his limbs.

"Shot him," Caleb replied in a matter of fact way. He didn't seem to be overly concerned that he had just killed his younger brother.

Jack reached for Ianto's fallen gun, only to find that it was too far away for him to reach without him toppling to the ground. "You're going to pay for this," Jack spat, willing down tears at the thought of his dead lover.

Caleb laughed and rolled his eyes. "Is that so?" he challenged. "You can barely stand. I don't think you're in a position to threaten me."

"That wasn't a threat," Jack responded. "That was a promise."

The other man wasn't moving; or making any attempt to stop Jack from trying to reach for the gun. He would just shoot Jack if it looked like he was going to become a threat. That was the bright side to having an immortal prisoner. He could kill the Captain as many times as he wanted, and Jack would just keep coming back to life, over and over again.

A sudden gasp from Jack's feet caught their attention and both men looked down at the ground in surprise. Jack knew his mind was playing tricks on him again, there was no way he could have heard breath coming from his lover's lifeless body.

Yet, as they both watched in disbelief, Ianto's body pushed off the ground and he rolled over – away from the pool of blood – and landed on his back, breathing heavily as the gunshot wound in his forehead slowly healed before their eyes.

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"Impossible," Caleb whispered, shaking his head in disbelief and jumping to his feet. "You can't both be immortal!"

Jack stared at Ianto, surprise, relief and horror mingling in his mind. "How…?"

"I think explanations are best kept for later," Ianto suggested, getting to his feet with a groan. "Are you well enough to stand now?" he asked, running his eyes up and down the length of Jack's body, inspecting for any lasting damage.

The Captain nodded his head, still in shock from seeing his lover rise from the dead.

Caleb raised his gun, disbelief still written over his face. The cyber controller was in his other hand, his thumb pressed over the activation button. "You're not going anywhere," he stated,

"Why are you doing this Caleb?" Ianto asked quietly from where he was leaning against Jack. "How are you going this? The Cybermen were destroyed."

The elder Jones let out a laugh that chilled Jack to the bone. It was cold and completely devoid of emotion. He knew in that moment that there wasn't anything they could do to talk Caleb out of his plan. All they could do was stall and hope they could think of something. Or the Doctor would find them.

"They were," Caleb replied. "These," his eyes flickered to the metal men around them, "were made from scratch. I gave my own blood to make them. I control them," he held up the controller.

To prove his point, he pressed a button and one of the Cybermen turned to face the group. They held their breath and waited for it to move again. When it didn't, they turned to Caleb in surprise. "Everything they do, I tell them. They don't have minds of their own. They can't think for themselves."

"If you were clever enough to build these, why didn't you just go back and save tad yourself?" Ianto challenged, meeting his brother's blue eyes with his own.

Caleb scoffed and rolled his eyes, "You don't think I tried?" he snapped. "Every time I tried, I couldn't get the timing right, kept appearing too late. I needed a Vortex Manipulator."

Ianto glanced down at his wrist, where his own wrist strap provided a comforting weight against his wrist.

"I could only gather enough power to make one trip to the past and back," Caleb continued.

"How did you even know where I was?" Ianto demanded, looking over at Jack. The Captain inclined his head a little, confirming to the younger man that he was beginning to regain feeling in his legs.

"You're in the history books," Caleb snapped, making Ianto frown in surprise. "Oh, yes," he leered, "you never realised you being in the past would have an effect on our world, did you?"

"I travelled back to the twenty-first century, laid the trap and waited. I was hoping to capture you, but then he…" He nodded towards Jack, "found me and I had to take care of him. I heard you all call him over those ear pieces and knew he must be someone important to you."

"You're right, he is," Ianto replied, his voice dropping dangerously low. "You messed with the wrong family, Caleb. You're not…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door burst open, ricocheting off the wall with a loud crash…

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A high-pitched noise tore through the air, making all three human occupants of the room fall to their knees, their hands clutched over their ears with pained expressions on their faces.

Jack looked up, his eyes watering from the intensity of the assault on his eardrums. The Doctor was standing in the doorway, his Sonic Screwdriver extended and pointing towards Caleb.

"Don't just lie there," he instructed. "Grab that and let's get out of here!" He nodded to the fallen cyber controller.

Ianto's eyes flickered over to Jack and nodded his head, lowering his hands, only grimacing once at the increased pain he felt.

Jack followed his example and the couple scrambled to their feet, the Captain darting over to grab the controller.

Caleb's annoyed screams were only just drowned out by the throbbing of their eardrums.

Quickly they ran over to the door where the Doctor was standing. The Time Lord turned to Ianto and grinned widely, "This is where the comfortable shoes come in handy."

The high-pitched noise cut off as the Doctor deactivated the screwdriver, turning around and fleeing with the couple.

Caleb jumped to his feet, his face a picture of pure fury as he stalked across the warehouse. He tore open the door, heading into his control room. He thumped away at his keyboard, bringing life to his Cyber creations.

"Find them," he snarled, leaning on the console and watching through the two-way mirror as the Cybermen slowly exited the room. He knew he couldn't permanently kill Jack – or Ianto it now appeared – but the other; the skinny one in the suit. He was positive there was no way all three of them could be immortal.

Jack tilted his head a little as he ran, admiring the view of Ianto running in front of him. The younger man was wearing those sinfully tight jeans that always set Jack's pulse racing – not to mention what that black studded belt did to the Captain.

"Gotta say, the view from back here is fantastic," he commented, not slowing down as they headed through the building.

Ianto shook his head, throwing a look over his shoulder as he continued moving. The Doctor heard his comment and rolled his eyes, "Stop it," he chided, reaching out prodding two fingers into Jack's back.

"Time and a place, Jack," Ianto added. "Time and a place."

Jack pouted, beginning to feel slightly out of breath as they rounded a corner. "Seemed appropriate to me," he commented.

The Captain and the Doctor let out a whoop of joy as they spotted the TARDIS come into view. They were almost there and soon they would be well on their way to freedom and back to Cardiff.

Quickly the Doctor unlocked it and ushered the pair inside, closing the wood panelled door behind them.

"Jack, get her in flight," the Doctor instructed. "I don't care where, just get us away from this immediate area."

Jack nodded his head, slipping into the role he always seemed to take whenever he was with the Doctor. That of the student trying to please his mast… teacher, he mentally corrected himself.

He flicked several switches and turned a few dials, before the ship lurched and they took off.

"Doctor," Jack began once the ship was in flight around the area – Jack hadn't known what else to do. "What are we going to do? We can't let those Cybermen get out of there."

The Time Lord nodded his head, inhaling a deep breath and looking down at the controller Jack was still holding in his hands. "Did he say anything about how these Cybermen survived?"

"They're not real Cybermen," Ianto spoke softly from where he had seated himself on the jump seat. "He said he created them from scratch. My guess is that he's been researching and designed them from past descriptions and records; Caleb always was more studious than me. He said it had been ten years – it's only been half that for me – since tad died. That's a long time to plan this."

Jack moved over to Ianto, sitting down next to him and taking his lover's hand in his. "He said he'd created them using his own blood; he used his own life force to give them lives of their own."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, then, "Oh!" He jumped to his feet and darted across the TARDIS, grabbing the controller from Jack. "If he's done that, I can…" he trailed off, his tongue poking out as he fiddled with cables to connect the controller to the centre console.

Just as suddenly as he'd started working, he stopped and looked up at Ianto, his face suddenly serious as he made eye contact for the first time since the energy field had hit them.

"I can wire this up and send out an energy wave to kill those Cybermen," he spoke. "But to do that, I'll have to tell it to search for anything bearing his DNA." His voice was full of regret as he watched Ianto, gauging his reaction.

Jack turned to look at Ianto as well, gripping his hand tightly, giving him strength as he nodded his head.

"Do it," the assassin murmured, closing his eyes as the Doctor connected the last wire and sent a wave of energy down to the ground, wiping out Caleb and the Cybermen.

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Jack pressed a soft kiss on Ianto's lips as the Doctor continued studying the screen in front of him, double-checking there were no Cybermen left.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, knowing how stupid a question it was.

Ianto chuckled weakly and shook his head. "He was my brother," he murmured, roughly brushing tears aside. "None of this would have happened if tad hadn't died."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," the Doctor interrupted, turning away from the screen now that he knew it was safe.

"It might have," Ianto muttered darkly, his eyes drifting over to a spot on the wall.

The Doctor shook his head. "It wouldn't have," he reiterated. "I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that I've been to the future, Ianto Jones. I know what you're going to do." The younger man didn't look convinced and he added, "If your father hadn't died, you would never have joined the Time Agency and you would never have met Jack."

"You knew this would happen?" Jack demanded, feeling angry for his lover. He didn't care that he had been tortured; losing his brother in such a horrible way would cut Ianto to the core.

The Time Lord shifted uncomfortably, "Not under these circumstances and not at this moment, but yes," he admitted, "I knew you'd be made immortal at some point. Just like I knew you were immortal when I left you," he added, looking at Jack.

Jack's eyes hardened at the mention of his abandonment and Ianto, seeing this and wanting to avoid an argument – too tired to listen to them bicker - changed the subject. "What is it with us and evil brothers?" he joked, looking up at Jack with twinkling blue eyes.

x

Jack fixed them all teas and slid into his seat at the kitchen table. Him and Ianto hadn't really had time to come to terms with what had happened yet; neither of them knew what had actually happened.

The Doctor had been too busy making sure every last sign of life in the factory was destroyed before setting the TARDIS en route for Torchwood.

Ianto looked up and smiled gratefully as the beverage was placed in front of him. Everyone always said tea made everything feel better, and on some bizarre level it did – even if he couldn't explain why it had that effect, he just knew it worked.

"Go on then," Jack instructed, sliding a cup across to the Doctor. "You said you'd explain. What the hell happened?"

The Time Lord sighed deeply and took a drink of his tea, sighing in delight as the hot beverage slid down his throat refreshingly. Slowly he lowered his cup and studied the couple before he heaved another sigh and began his explanation.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a flashback chapter

Chapter 29  
 _The energy ball hit them before he could do anything to stop it. He knew their energy shields would protect them a little but there would still be some kind of damage to the ships systems._

_Before his eyes, the centre console of the TARDIS exploded, showing the area in a spray of gold sparks. The light was almost blinding as he struggled to stabilise the computer system._

_Once he was sure they wouldn't fall from the sky, he turned to the rest of the ship. He sighed with relief when he noticed that there wasn't much actual damage to the majority of the console._

_Actually the only thing that had exploded had been the section containing the Time Vortex._

_"Help me close this," the Doctor instructed Ianto, moving to the open console._

_When the younger man didn't move, he turned his head and felt his heart enter his throat when he spotted Ianto standing motionless, his once blue eyes now glowing golden, not too dissimilar from the way Rose's had._

_"No," he whispered, shaking his head and he moved so he was in front of Ianto. "What are you doing?" he asked._

_Ianto didn't reply and he didn't need to. The Doctor wasn't taking to him, he was talking to the Time Vortex inside of him._

_"Leave him alone!" he instructed, stepping back and pointing to the console. "You can't stay in there."_

_He pulled out his screwdriver and aimed it at the console, repairing the crack that had split the console. "Sonic Screwdrivers, also double as welders," he muttered to himself, flinching away from the sparks that flew as he reconnected the metal._

_Once the console was almost fixed, he stepped back and watched as the Time Vortex slowly exited Ianto's body and transferred into the TARDIS where it belonged._

_Ianto's body fell to the ground and the Doctor sighed, averting his eyes from his unconscious form. Looking at the Time Agent would take some getting used to, just like it had with Jack._

_"What have you done?" the Doctor whispered, directing to the question to the TARDIS._

_The ship merely hummed in response, clearly happy with the way things worked out and her actions._

_He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Not knowing what to do, he sat down heavily on the jump seat. When Jack had become immortal he had fled. Left him alone, stranded on the Game Station in the year 200,100._

_Leaving Ianto wasn't an option now. They needed to find Jack and return to Cardiff and their son._

_But knowing all that information didn't change anything. Ianto was still painful to look at, just like Jack._

_"What have you done?" the Doctor repeated, running his hand over the console and shaking his head._

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Jack and Ianto stared at the Doctor after his explanation. "You can't reverse it, can you?" Ianto asked quietly, staring down at his drink.

The Time Lord shook his head, regret flitting across his face. "The Time Vortex has changed your molecular structure as far as I can tell. I'm sorry."

Ianto nodded his head, pushing back from the table and getting to his feet. "Excuse me," he whispered, moving away from the kitchen and heading down the corridor.

Jack made to follow him but the Doctor placed a hand on his arm. "Before you go, I need to tell you something," the Time Lord informed him.

The Captain raised an eyebrow and slumped back into his chair, looking at the Doctor questioningly. "Back on the Silo, when I said you were wrong…"

Jack's eyed hardened and he made to stand up, but again the Doctor stopped him. "I have never been more wrong about anything in my whole life," he admitted, making Jack pause in surprise.

"What?"

The Doctor took a breath, "You know what this regeneration's like. I speak without thinking. I meant to say that no human should become a fact. Humans are born, live and die. I didn't know what to do with you, Jack."

The Time Agent sat back down and looked at his hands before whispering, "And now?"

He hesitated before reaching out and placing a hand over Jack's. "Now I realise you were meant to be this way, Jack. You were meant to be immortal."

Jack nodded his head, remembering what Martha had said about the Face of Boe. He didn't say anything to the Doctor, knowing that he wasn't supposed to be aware of his future-self meeting them.

"You're not the same man I met all those years ago, you've changed so much. And I don't just mean the immortality. The Jack I met would have never been ready to settle down with a family. I just never realised how much you'd changed until I met them."

The Doctor sighed and got to his feet, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder and squeezing tightly. Donna had been right, he did talk a lot – usually complete nonsense. But when it came to saying the most important things he could never get the words out.

"Go find, Ianto," the Doctor advised. "It's a lot to take in and you've had to cope with being immortal; he'll need you. I just have one thing to do then we can get you both home to Dominic."

Jack nodded his head and moved to exit the kitchen. At the doorway he paused and looked back over at the Time Lord. "I…" He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, "Thank you."

x

He found Ianto in the bedroom he had always preferred to use while travelling with the Doctor. The younger man was lying in the centre of the bed, curled up in a ball with his face buried in the pillows.

Ianto wasn't making a sound, but his shoulders were shaking and Jack knew instinctively that he was crying.

Silently Jack crawled onto the bed, curling his arms around Ianto and pulling him closer.

"Shh…" he soothed, pressing his lips against the other man's hair. "It's okay, we'll get through this."

He didn't know if Ianto was listening to him; Jack didn't even know if he believed the words that were coming out of his mouth. There was a very large – very selfish - part of him that was ecstatic about Ianto being immortal; he could never leave him now. But the rest of him was terrified about how the intense change of events would affect Ianto. Not only would he never grow old, he would have to watch Dominic – and any future children they may have – die, while he lived on unaffected.

"I know he was twisted and needed to be stopped, but he was my brother…" Ianto whispered, burying his face in Jack's chest.

The other man paused in surprise; he had almost forgotten what had happened to him recently and who had done those things to him. He had just assumed that Ianto was crying over the knowledge that he now couldn't die.

"Maybe he was right," Ianto murmured, tracing small circles on Jack's chest with his index finger. "Maybe I should have changed things when I became a Time Agent."

Jack placed his hand over his lover's. "Stop right there, Ianto," he instructed firmly. "You know as well as I do, there are certain things you just can't change. You joined the Time Agency because your dad wanted to make sure you got away from Dalceonia. If your tad had been alive, you would have stayed at home with them."

"Going back to the same time would more than certainly create a paradox," the Doctor's voice spoke from the doorway, startling the couple.

Together they lifted their heads and glared at the Time Lord. "Do you mind?" Ianto snapped.

The Doctor shook his head, oblivious to the assassin's anger. "Ianto, would you come with me for a moment? There's something you need to see."

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The doors to the TARDIS opened and Ianto stepped out into the sunshine, gaping at his surroundings.

"Doctor?" he asked, turning and looking at the Time Lord in confusion.

The Doctor rocked on the balls of his feet, stuffing one hand in his pocket and rubbing the back of his neck with the other. "You've been through a lot today, Ianto. You need to heal."

Ianto looked around him, feeling a fresh wave of tears wash over him. He hated himself for crying, but at that moment he decided that he had been through a lot and he deserved to let it out at least a little bit.

He had instantly recognised the garden the Doctor had landed in. It didn't look different, still as immaculate as it ever had. All the native life forms and plants surrounded them and he smiled. He was home. For the first time in a long time.

Ianto looked questioningly over at Jack who nodded his head. "I'll stay here, unless you need me," he whispered, instructing Ianto to go ahead without him.

The younger man smiled thankfully at him before turning back to the housing unit and taking a deep breath.

When he got to the door, he reached out and tentatively knocked on the door. When no one answered, he tried knocking louder.

Just as he thought the Doctor had arrived when no one was in, the door opened and Ianto came face to face with someone he never thought he'd see again.

"Ianto?" Lewis whispered in surprise, searching the other man's face to ensure it really was him.

"It's me, dad," he replied, easily slipping back into their native language.

Before he knew what was happening, Ianto found himself almost crushed in Lewis' embrace. "What's going on? The news discs are saying Time Agents are being arrested."

Ianto's stomach lurched as he realised he hadn't been gone that long from Lewis' point of view. "Dad, has anyone been here?" he demanded urgently.

Lewis frowned and shook his head, "No. Why?" he pressed.

"It… Doesn't matter… Just, if someone does, don't tell them I've been here. It's too dangerous."

"Ianto Jones tell me what is wrong with you," he ordered in a way that only a parent could. His gaze flicked over Ianto's shoulder and he saw two strangers standing in front of a blue box. "Who are they?"

Ianto followed his gaze and smiled affectionately as he watched Jack and the Doctor watching them. The pair of them started when they realised they'd been caught, both making as though they were inspecting the TARDIS before opening the door and darting inside.

"They're… bastards," Ianto growled. He yelped when Lewis hit him on the arm. "What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing the sore spot.

"Language," Lewis chided, pulling his son inside the house.

Ianto rolled his eyes and allowed his father to drag him down the corridor into the kitchen area. "This place hasn't changed at all," he mused as he sat down at the table, watching as Lewis set about making them a drink.

Lewis turned around, frowning at his son. "It's only been a couple of years since you were last here," he reminded him.

He shook his head, accepting the drink from him. "For me, it's been… God, I don't even know anymore," he whispered, having a sip. "At least five years, maybe six."

Lewis' eyes widened as he sat down. "Six years?" he repeated. "You've come back through time?"

"Forward actually," he admitted. "We…"

Lewis held his hand up, "Is what you're about to tell me change time lines?" he demanded. Ianto shook his head and Lewis lowered his hand, "Continue."

The younger Jones chuckled before he carried on speaking. "We live in the twenty first century now."

"We?" Lewis echoed.

"Will and I," Ianto replied. "We…" He took a deep breath, "We have a son, actually."

Lewis' eyes boggled and he studied Ianto. "You… I'm a grandfather?"

Ianto nodded his head, smiling a little at Lewis' reaction. "He's called Dominic and he's four months old."

They fell silent as Lewis took in the information. His mind boggled at the thought of his youngest son being a father. But he also felt pride surge, as he thought of Ianto caring for another life.

"You carried him?" he questioned.

Ianto agreed, "Will's from this time, but yeah, it was me. Totally by accident admittedly."

Lewis got up and moved around the table, hugging Ianto tightly. "I'm sure he's a wonderful baby," he whispered, pressing a kiss against Ianto's dark hair.

He sat on the table, looking down at Ianto. "Did everything go okay? The delivery and everything."

Ianto chuckled and shook his head. "I got shot around my eighth month." Lewis gasped in horror and he quickly continued, "I was okay in the end. Then my friend died and I almost lost the baby because my blood pressure was sky high. But the delivery itself was okay. Except it hurt. A lot."

Lewis laughed and squeezed Ianto's shoulder. "That's why I was glad your tad agreed to carrying all three of you."

Pain flickered across Ianto's eyes and Lewis' smile disappeared instantly. He thought Ianto had gotten past the point where he could talk about Paul without it hurting. "What's wrong?"

Ianto was silent before he whispered, "When I became a Time Agent did you resent me for not going back and stopping them from dying?"

"What? Of course not!" Lewis insisted, pulling his chair over and sitting next to Ianto so he could look into his eyes. "Your tad knew the risks that come along with male pregnancies. There was always going to be the chance of something like that happening." Ianto remained silent. "Do you know what he said to me the night we decided we were going to have children?"

Ianto shook his head, looking down at his hands. Lewis took his son's hands in his, "He said that if we didn't take the risk, we would never be able to have a family. That nothing worth doing is ever easy."

The younger man laughed out loud as a tear fell down his cheek. At Lewis' questioning look he explained, "Will's said the exact same thing to me."

"He sounds like a good man."

Ianto smiled affectionately as he thought of the Captain. "He is," he whispered.

Lewis grinned and hugged Ianto tightly, kissing his head once more. "Come on," he said, tugging on Ianto's hands and pulling him to his feet. "I want to meet this Will before you leave. Make sure he's good enough for you."

x

"Are you sure you can't reverse it?" Jack asked, leaning against the side of the TARDIS, before sliding down to the ground.

"You want him to die?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow. He lifted his trousers up a little before sitting cross-legged next to the Captain.

"No!" Jack replied quickly. "Of course not. It's just…" He trailed off, his eyes drifting over to the building. "I've lived for so long – seen and loved so many people. And they've all died, every single one of them. That pain… It never goes away. I don't want Ianto to have to suffer that."

The Doctor leant back and looked up, taking in the azure coloured sky above them. "Ianto isn't going to be alone as you," he eventually told the other man. "I know I didn't handle your becoming immortal as well as I could, but this with Ianto… It's different. Circumstances are different."

Jack shook his head, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. "You've got someone who'll never leave you, Jack," the Doctor spoke. "Me… I'm unreliable, I am. Always coming and going, never finding the time to stop in one place and spend time with the people there."

"Ianto's here with you, now. He's immortal. He's never going to grow old. He's never going to die. The one thing you've always been afraid of is being alone – and I know I did nothing to help you with that fear – but Ianto won't leave you alone."

Jack opened his eyes and smiled thankfully at the Doctor as the doors to the complex opened and Ianto and Lewis left with their arms around each other.

Immediately they jumped to their feet with identical guilty looks on their faces; almost as though they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been. The Doctor mumbled something under his breath before darting into the TARDIS, leaving Jack with his lover and father-in-law.

"What have you done?" Ianto asked, leading Lewis over to his lover.

Jack glared at him, "Nothing," he retorted.

Ianto rolled his eyes, clearly not believing him as he introduced two of the most important men in his life. "Dad, this is…"

"Will Kanaris, sir," Jack interrupted, holding his hand out to Lewis.

Ianto started a little in surprise and stared at Jack. He had been about to introduce him as Will Harkness – knowing how much the older man didn't like to use his real name anymore. The fact that Jack was willing to tell Lewis his real name meant so much to Ianto and spoke volumes about their relationship.

Lewis smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Will," he replied honestly. "You take care of my son and grandson."

Jack grinned at Ianto, his smile so bright it made Ianto's eyes hurt a little. "I'd protect them with my life, sir. I promise."

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Dominic wouldn't stop crying. He had been fine for the entire time Ianto had been away looking for Jack – all of the three weeks. But all of a sudden, it was like he'd only just realised his parents weren't there.

The Rift had been causing them problems for days. Each member of the team felt completely exhausted. Myfanwy had even noticed Ianto wasn't around – Gwen suspected she didn't care about Jack – and had taken to circling the Hub once in the morning and once in the evening in the hopes that her master had returned.

She swooped down when she heard Dominic crying. Tish watched her approach nervously, unsure of what to do.

"Gwen!" she called across the Hub to where the Welshwoman was working. "What's it going to do?"

"She," Gwen corrected automatically, turning around in her chair and watching. "I think she's trying to calm Dominic down."

Tish let out a startled cry when Myfanwy took a step closer. "What do I do?" she shrieked.

Gwen shook her head. "Leave her be," she replied. "I don't think she'll hurt him."

"But you don't know for sure?" Tish demanded, instinctively trying to move Dominic away from the dinosaur.

Before Gwen could answer, Myfanwy ducked her head and nudged the crying baby gently. They watched with bated breath for Dominic's reaction. To their surprise – and relief – Dominic instantly stopped crying and started petting the pterodactyl as though it were a puppy not a dangerous creature.

Tish and Gwen stared at each other in surprise, both thinking the same thing. If they had known all it took to get him to stop crying was the dinosaur, they would have stuck him up in her nest days ago.

"That…"

"Was unexpected," Gwen agreed, turning around when the cog door rolled back.

It was still strange not to hear the alarms every time the door opened. Jack had reprogrammed it so that if the correct code was entered into a numeric panel on either side of the door, it opened silently. Get it wrong, however, the alarms went off as loud as ever.

Mickey and Martha entered, both looking just as tired as Gwen felt, and slightly dishevelled. A piece of Martha's hair had come loose from her ponytail and Mickey's shirt was ripped in a few places.

"Did you manage to catch it?" Gwen asked, turning her chair around once more.

Mickey shook his head, crossing the Hub and slouching on to the couch with a tired groan. "We thought we had it but then it decided it liked the water better."

"Can Weevil's swim?" Martha asked, sitting next to Mickey and pulling the band from her hair and redoing the ponytail.

Gwen opened her mouth then frowned, "I don't know," she admitted. "I've never really thought about it."

Before any of them could take the conversation further a cold wind blew through the Hub, scattering papers everywhere and startling Dominic again.

All four of the adults exchanged surprised – and elated – glances. That cold wind could only mean one thing.

Ianto and the Doctor were back. But as the TARDIS materialised in front of them, they couldn't help wondering if they'd found Jack.

TBC


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The doors of the TARDIS had barely opened when Gwen launched herself at the first person that exited, hugging whoever it was tightly. It was only when she pulled back that she realised it was Ianto.

"I am so glad to see you," she announced honestly.

The Doctor exited the TARDIS, grinning when he saw Myfanwy near Dominic. "You popped down for a visit as well, did you, girl?" he cooed, crossing the Hub and petting the dinosaur.

"Where's Jack?" Martha asked, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

The aforementioned Captain stepped around the closed door of the TARDIS and grinned at the team. "Hey, kids," he smirked, "ya miss me?"

Ianto rolled his eyes and glared at Jack, although there was no malice behind his eyes as he looked at his lover.

Suddenly Jack found himself with an armful of women – not that he was complaining. "Easy girls," he smirked, pressing kisses on the top of all three of their heads. "There's enough of me to go 'round."

Martha laughed and pulled away first, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand as she stepped back to allow to the Captain room to breathe. Tish and Gwen were a little more reluctant to let go; but eventually Tish extracted herself from his arms, shortly followed by Gwen, who hugged him tightly once more before stepping back.

Jack threw a look at Mickey and grinned, "You want one too, Mickey?"

The black man glared at Jack. "No thanks, Cheesecake. I'm fine over here."

Ianto bent down and picked Dominic up from where Tish had left him on his play mat. He grinned as he held his son close, letting his familiar presence comfort him. He was so glad to be back home with his family.

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Ianto grinned at Jack and turned around so the older man could get a proper look at their son. "Hey, daddy," he greeted just as he done when Dominic had been born.

Jack flashed him a watery smile as he accepted Dominic, holding him close against his chest. He grinned when Dominic's eyes fluttered open, regarding the newcomer with curious blue eyes. It seemed to take him a few moments, but eventually he smiled and leant closer, sucking his thumb and breathing in his daddy's familiar scent.

"He didn't forget me," Jack whispered, tracing his fingers down Dominic's cheek.

Ianto steered the other man toward the couch, easing him down on to it and sitting next to him. "Of course he didn't," Ianto chided, brushing Jack's hair away from his forehead and kissing him softly. "You're his daddy."

Jack nodded his head, never taking his eyes away from Dominic's sleeping face. He just wanted to sit and look at his son; the same child he had, at one point, been positive he would never see again.

The Doctor clapped his hands, startling them all. "Right, then," he declared, "give me your phones, everyone."

All of them exchanged confused glances but otherwise handed over the communications devices. "What are you doing?" Gwen demanded, watching as the Doctor flipped the back off and pointed his screwdriver at the phone before moving on.

The Time Lord didn't reply until he had reached the very last phone in his line – Jack's. He looked over at Jack and smiled regretfully, "I should have done this a long time ago," he told the Captain, aiming his screwdriver at the phone.

"All of your phones will now work anywhere in the Universe," the Doctor announced, handing each phone back to their respective owners. "If you need to contact me, you won't have to do it through Martha anymore. I've also tuned them into the Rift frequencies. If there's any kind of disturbance, you'll instantly get text messages with the co-ordinates. Which means, you can all get back to living your lives."

Jack handed Dominic to Ianto – almost reluctantly, Ianto noted – and moved over to the Doctor.

He saluted him and the Time Lord rolled his eyes, "Oh, give up," he joked. He hesitated for a second before pulling Jack into his arms, "You're a good man, Jack Harkness. I'm honoured to be your friend."

"Family," Jack shook his head. "You're part of my family."

The Doctor grinned and lowered his head a little; Ianto was positive he was actually blushing.

"Oh!" the Doctor cried as though just remembering something. He grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him closer, aiming his screwdriver at the Captain's Vortex Manipulator.

"You don't have to do that!" Jack tried to pull his arm away but the Doctor wouldn't let him go. "You deactivated it last time."

"I know." The Doctor activated the screwdriver and a few moments later released Jack. "That's what I was fixing. I trust you, Jack. You're not going to put the universe in danger with this thing now any more than you were last time. I should have seen that and I'm sorry."

TBC


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Jack looked around the conference table at his team. It had been months since he had seen them all, and the sight of their exhausted – but happy faces – had never looked better. He had been fending of questions about where he had disappeared to ever since his return.

He hadn't told them the full details of where he had been – not wanting Ianto to have to deal with them knowing what his older brother had done. Jack had told them that he had been kidnapped by another of his past lovers who wanted revenge for something or another. Their acceptance of his excuse made him wonder if he really was as bad as everyone made him out to be.

The Doctor had left the Hub, and Cardiff, about an hour before. He had been talking excitedly about some kind of eclipse somewhere. No one had really been listening, and all of them had been secretly glad to see the doors close on the TARDIS. He really did talk too fast.

"Why are we in here, Jack?" Gwen asked, barely stifling a yawn.

The Captain looked up at his lover who took on pity on him and spoke instead. "I asked Jack to call the meeting," he admitted.

"When I was with the Doctor, something happened to me."

Gwen gasped in fear and her hand covered her mouth. "What?" she whispered, dreading what the young man's answer was going to be.

Ianto took a deep breath and he smiled when he felt Jack's hand squeeze his own under the table. "When I was on the TARDIS, it exploded."

"What?" Martha cried, lunging forward in her seat. "The TARDIS exploded? Are you okay?" she demanded, her dark eyes giving him the once over. He could tell she was itching to inspect him from head to toe.

"I am now," he assured her. "The Time Vortex… it went inside me. I guess it needed a host until it could return to the console."

"Did it do anything to you?" Mickey asked from where he was sitting on the other end of the table.

The Time Agent took another breath and nodded his head slowly, "It made me immortal. The Doctor seems to think it recognised traces of Jack left over from when I carried Dominic. But we don't know for certain."

Silence fell over the room as everyone took in the rather large bombshell that had just been dropped on them. "You're… You're…?" Martha stammered, trying to wrap her head around Ianto's news.

He reached across the table with his free hand, placing it over hers reassuringly. "It's okay," he whispered, squeezing gently. "Nothing changes. I'm still the same person I've always been."

Jack took over at that point, "All this means is that, unless absolutely necessary, we'll take any of the life or death assignments. We've already lost so much, I'm not about to lose any of you."

"We really only told you so no one risks their lives trying to save me," Ianto added. "I know you all feel strongly about Dominic, and don't want him to lose me. He's not going to now, so let me worry about his aunts and uncle, okay?"

x

The rest of the team were, understandably, stunned after the couple's announcement. As they left, Gwen still looked wide-eyed and terrified as she squeezed him painfully.

Martha was wearing a contemplative expression and they just knew she would be calling the Doctor demanding explanations shortly.

Mickey and Tish looked confused, but both relieved that neither Jack nor Ianto would be leaving their son alone any time soon.

The Captain turned to look at Ianto who was still sitting at the conference table, swirling the remaining dregs of coffee around in the bottom of his cup. "You're taking this better than I would have expected," he commented.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders, not looking up. "Yeah, well," he responded. "No sense in moping around. You heard what the Doctor said – and you know yourself – I'm immortal and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"You're allowed to be pissed off," Jack whispered. "When I…"

Suddenly Ianto snapped, pushing the cup away from him. "I know, you spent the first fifty years – or whatever – so drunk you couldn't remember what day of the week it was. But I don't have that luxury, do I?"

Jack frowned, taken aback by his outburst. "I can't mope around feeling sorry myself and getting pissed, because I have responsibilities here. I have to take care of the Hub, because god forbid people should look after themselves, while being a decent field agent, your second-in-fucking command and helping you look after Dominic."

The older Time Agent, recognising that his lover's temper was about to quickly subside, to be replaced by frustration, turned his chair and pulled Ianto into his arms.

"It's okay…" he whispered, pressing his lips against the other man's dark hair. "It's a lot to do. We'll look at hiring someone to take care of maintenance. We'll figure it out," he cooed, kissing Ianto softly. "We'll figure it out."

TBC


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Jack shushed Dominic and raised the bars on the side of the cot. It was nearing midnight, long after their son's bedtime.

Thanks to the Doctor fixing their phones they didn't need for someone to stay there, monitoring the Rift. Ianto had fed Myfanwy and the whole team had left for the night, leaving the Hub silent for the first time in a long while.

Tish had volunteered to take Dominic for the night, but Jack had flat out refused. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the offer – he appreciated everything she did to help them with Dominic - but he hadn't seen his son for over a month. He wanted to spend every moment he could with him to make up for lost time.

Jack turned around and smiled when he saw Ianto leaning against the doorframe, watching his family with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted, crossing the room and looping his arms around Ianto's neck. "I thought you were getting ready for bed."

Ianto smiled and rested his hands on Jack's hips, taking comfort in the familiar way they fitted together. "I was wondering where you'd got to," he whispered, not wanting to wake the now sleeping Dominic.

Together they headed out of the room, flicking off the light and closing the door slightly; they always left it open a little, in case either of them needed to get inside in an emergency.

Once they reached their bedroom, Ianto turned Jack around and kissed him softly. The tenderness of the kiss soon gave way to passion. Their hands clawed at each other bodies, trying to rid themselves of the clothes they were wearing.

Jack broke away from Ianto's mouth with a gasp. His chest heaved as he struggled to regain oxygen. He could feel Ianto's able hands working at unfastening his belt and all coherent thought was rapidly escaping him.

"Wait, Ianto," the Captain suddenly cried, covering his lover's hands with his own. "There's something I want to tell you."

Ianto rolled his eyes and continued unfastening Jack's trousers, pushing them and his underwear to the floor. "Sex first, talking later," he whispered, pressing his lips against Jack's and urging the other man in the general direction of the bed.

Jack fell down on the mattress with a startled 'Oomf' as Ianto landed on top of him. Together they chuckled at how eager they were, even though it hadn't been that long since they had reconnected with each other on the TARDIS.

Ianto leant over, still kissing Jack, and pulled the small drawer next to the bed open. He had pulled out a tube of lube and condoms before Jack stopped him again.

"What?" Ianto asked, his frustration showing in his voice.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jack nodded to the condoms.

He pushed Ianto off of him and sat up, pulling his shirt and undershirt off, throwing them towards the laundry basket.

"Will?" Ianto asked in confusion, sitting up as well, moving so he was next to his lover.

"While I was…" Jack took a deep breath and Ianto covered his hand with his own. "While I was away I realised something. I was actually scared I would… Well, not die. I was terrified I would be some kind of immortal Cyberman and end up converting the whole human race because I couldn't be stopped."

"Then when I saw that Caleb had shot you so many things flashed through my mind. The main one being that I didn't want you to die before I had the chance to carry your child."

"Will," Ianto breathed, cupping Jack's cheek with his hand. "You said you'd never do it again."

Jack nodded his head, covering Ianto's hand with his own and squeezing it. "I know," he whispered, "but I love you, Ianto Jones and I'm ready to try again."

Ianto smiled and kissed Jack tenderly, "I love you too, Will," he replied. "So much."

The End


End file.
